Branded Blog

I am not a baker. A friend of mine from my wonderful (and much missed) Book-club in Joburg is such a creature – she would often calmly arrive at Book-club and announce that she had baked 3 thousand cup-cakes last night and then gotten up early that morning to make a 75 layer wedding cake, icing flowers and all, and then gone off to her day job. And then wonder why all the rest of us were staring slack-jawed at her. And of course it was always a treat to have book-club at the Baking Pixie’s house, treats at every turn!

But, as mentioned, I am not such a creature. I am, in fact, probably the polar opposite. An un-Baker, perhaps. Or maybe the opposite of a Baker is a Gobbler, then I would be a super-Gobbler. But a Baker I am not.

So it has always been one of my absolute favourite things ever to have a Mom who makes the loveliest scones in the world.

They are light, just the right mix of soft and crumbly, and ever so slightly sweet. And they are always, always eaten warm, out of the oven, with jam & cream, or grated cheese. And they are always served with tea in a tea-pot. And they are awesome.

They were the staple Sunday-morning tea-time treat in our house growing up, and our loveliest Mom always uncomplainingly got home after church to make a batch for tea before laying on a real Sunday lunch which was also unfailingly yummy.

But somehow the Scones have become elevated to a higher level in our world and they are the one thing that all three of us siblings yearn for most, and request / nag / beg / plead for everytime we visit the Parentals. They moved house from a 35 year stint in the Vrystaat to the gorgeous Pringle Bay about 4 years ago now, but wherever the Parentals and the scones are, there is home!

The Barefoot man and I spent the Easter weekend in Pringle with the lovely Parentals and, of course, the Scones. But this time I really wanted to watch and try to figure out how these wonderful things are made, so I commissioned the loveliest Mom to make a batch slowly so that I could take some photos and attempt to learn the process.

And in the midst of a storming rainy day we made scones. Or rather, the lovely Mom made scones and I took photos and kept making her go back to pose with the flour or the egg or the dough so that I could get a good picture!

Eventually the lovely (and very patient) Mom would tell me what had to happen next and then stop mid-sentence with the lastest phase of the baking process so that I could take a photo and tell her she could “un-freeze” and then she carried on explaining the process.

Needless to say, it become hysterically funny, at least to us, and there was much hilarity in the kitchen. I’m fairly sure the Barefoot man, the Paternal unit  and Phoebe the Fox Terrier were a bit concerned about our sanity at some stages.

The loveliest scones finally went into the oven and ten minutes later (yes, that’s all it takes, amazing isn’t it?) there they were in all their delicious glory – the loveliest scones in the world.

And then we made tea in a tea-pot and gobbled them all up almost as quickly. Sigh. My favourite thing to gobble. And lovely people to share them with, what could be better on a rainy long-weekend morning?

And that’s the thing that made me think this was worth sharing this month – not only are the scones just ridiculously fabulous, but they would seem to be one of those family recipes that get passed down and treasured and from which memories are literally made, clichéd as that may sound. And good memories are full of warmth and love and all the best things in the world.

But they wouldn’t happen if someone didn’t love you enough to share their hard-won and much practiced knowledge with you happily and freely. If you really love someone, you are happy – truly happy – to share everything with them and tell them about the things you treasure and smile as they learn about you and what you know.

And so the question this time round is simple: how much do you love the people on whom you rely and who make your work and living and growth and experience and achievement in the business world possible? How much do you love your customers?

Do you love them enough to share your brand with them? To tell them what’s going on in your brand world; to make them part of your brand family and share the lovely small magic of everyday stuff with them; and also to listen to their stories of your brand and learn from them?

In this world of interwebs and social apps and connections and concoctions that shift by the second you cannot afford to be telling the people who love you anything other than the truth, at the absolute minimum. This is the age of transparency, and consumers and clients will find out things about you whether you tell them or not. And why would you not share your world with them?

Be brave, let them in – tell them your real stories, your everyday foibles and funny things, ask for their views, listen to their experiences. Share the stuff that will help them believe that you love them. And no, it’s not necessary to give away your competitive secrets, no-one expects you to do that.  What they hope for is that you will share the stuff that will help them know you better and enjoy you more. This is the time for sharing, don’t be scared, they’ll love you for it!

The Loveliest Scones Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

2 cups self-raising flour  (or cake flour)

1 level tsp baking powder (or 2 heaped tsp baking powder if you use cake flour)

2 tsp sugar

milk and water  (about half a cup of each)

3 Tsp butter

pinch of salt

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180C

Sieve together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

Rub the butter into the dry mixture until it resembles maize meal.

Mix the egg with the milk & water.

Cut into the flour mixture with a palette or small spatula to mix in the liquid, don’t over-stir!

Turn out onto a floured board and pat down to about 1,5 cm thick.

Dip cookie cutter into flour and cut rounds and place onto a prepared baking tray.

Bake in a hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Serve and enjoy with tea!