The senior winner of the inaugural Canberra Scone-Off grew up in -where else but? - Scone.
Peter Chapman went to school in Scone, a small town in the Upper Hunter of NSW before leaving to join the navy in 1979.
He came to Canberra in 1997, via postings to Darwin and Perth, and spent two decades in the public service, most recently contracting to Foreign Affairs.
Now the 60-year-old Wanniassa dad has something new to add to his resume: King of the Scone.
Peter won the plain scone section, arguably the trickiest, at the inaugural Canberra Scone-Off held at Kippax Uniting Church in Holt last weekend.
He learnt how to cook scones from his Nan Sylvia in Toowoomba and his mum Bev, who later moved to Bathurst.
Peter entered the Scone-Off in honour of his mum who died 18 months ago. He was a bit emotional when he won.
"I was quite shocked when they said I'd won. All I could think of was mum," he said.
Peter uses lemonade in his scone recipe and the same glass jar to cut them. He says press down hard on the dough and pull the glass or cutter straight up, don't twist it because that will stop the scones from rising properly.
And, Pete, jam or cream on top?
"The cream is on the top," he said. "If you put the jam on top, it slides off."
The other winners were: Savoury: Marie Wensing, Pumpkin: Julie McCarron-Benson, Date: Stephanie Roe, Other: Emma Wensing (raspberry and white chocolate) and Junior: Mikey Roe.
Peter's Scone Recipe
Turn oven on to 180 degrees
Ingredients: 4 cups of self-raising flour, 300mls pure cream, 300mls lemonade.
Method: Gently combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
When you have a ball of dough, turn out onto a floured surface. Lightly knead the dough for 30 seconds. Then flatten the dough to about 3cm thick. Using a scone cutter or glass, cut out the scones. DO NOT twist the cutter!
Re-knead the dough and continue process until all dough is used. Should be able to make 12 to 14 scones.
Place scones on a baking tray. Glaze with milk.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Let cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy with jam and cream.
