Aunt Fiona's 50 Shades of Scones

By June Lucas

Teatime no longer needs to be accompanied by plain old scones. This cookbook uses basic scone recipes as a pallet for a wide range of flavors and ingredients. All the recipes are created with simple-to-follow instructions to help you create a variety of sweet and savory treats for yourself and your family and friends.

What you will find in this cookbook:

- Straight-forward baking tips and instructions.

- Sweet and savory recipes.

- Alternative recipes for those on gluten-free and vegan diets.

- Recipes for toppings like glazes and lemon curd.

50 Shades of Scones is a companion cookbook for the Madeline McPhee mystery series and includes a few references to the mysteries and their characters. It began as a spark of an idea that morphed into a pandemic isolation relief project by the author and her friends and was assisted greatly by family members and neighbors willing to eat some of the many millions (a wee exaggeration) of scones baked during this project.

This book is not affiliated with or related to books by E. L. James.

• Language: English
• Publisher: June Lucas
• Release date: Nov 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215540527

June Lucas

June Lucas is the pen name of Dr. Laurel Standley, a scientist and author living in northern California, though her heart remains in the misty forests of Oregon, especially Portland, which is where the Madeline McPhee mysteries take place. To learn more about her cozy mysteries and the associated cookbook, 50 Shades of Scones, visit www.authorjunelucas.com and follow @junelucasauthor on Instagram. The idea for the Madeline McPhee mysteries began when a light-hearted story Laurel wrote about her cat was accepted for publication in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Cat Did That? Laurel decided to try her hand at writing cozy mysteries with a strong feline presence. And, of course, she loves all things Scottish—tea, scones, plaid, the accent. Many of the antics of the fictional cat Angus in the stories were inspired by Wall-E (see picture), a big orange kitten Laurel adopted from a shelter in the winter of 2019. The titles for the McPhee mysteries were inspired years ago by Laurel’s Aunt Gail when she nicknamed Laurel’s sweet but grumpy cat Teacake “The Wreck of the Hiss Purr Hiss,” a play on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, The Wreck of the Hesperus. Thus, titles for the McPhee mysteries are created in the spirit of lines from Longfellow’s poem with a feline twist.

Book preview

Aunt Fiona’s 50 Shades of Scones

Aunt Fiona's 50 Shades of Scones

June Lucas

Published by June Lucas, 2023.

AUNT FIONA’S 50 SHADES OF SCONES

SECOND EDITION

JUNE LUCAS

AND FRIENDS

AuthorJuneLucas.com

Copyright © 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author.

Cover artwork by Steven Novak

Jennifer Willis, book interior design

Illustrations by Canva

Published by Laurel Standley, pen name June Lucas

Petaluma, California

AuthorJuneLucas.com

ALSO BY JUNE LUCAS

Other books in the McPhee mystery series:

Wreck of the Hiss Purr Hiss, Book 1

A Curious Corpse Was He, Book 2

A Whiskered Storm, Book 3

Aunt Fiona’s 50 Shades of Scones, companion cookbook

This book is dedicated to my family and friends who assisted me with this project:

Carolyn, Judy, Jen, Lynn, Marc, Linda, and Linda’s dog, Dobby.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Baking Notes

Techniques and Equipment

Ingredients, Special Dietary Needs

Summary

Professor McPhee’s Conversion Chart

The Sweeter Side of Life

Basic Scone Recipe

Sophie’s Extra Puckery Lemon Scones

Citrus, Olive Oil Scones

Orange Spice, Olive Oil Scones

Marmalade Scones

Walnut, Fig, Cinnamon Scones

Maple Walnut Scones

Angus’s Maple Bacon Scones

Aunt Carolyn’s Blueberry Maple Scones

Bourbon Peach Scones

Ginger Cat Scones

Carrot Cake Scones

Gingerbread Scones

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Persimmon Scones

Chocolate Walnut Scones

Chipotle Chocolate Scones

S’Mores Scones

Mango Lime Scones

Coconut Scones

Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones

Almond Butter, Chocolate Chip Scones

Pecan Praline Scones

Yogurt Scones

Basic Yogurt Scone Recipe

Aunt Fiona’s Blackberry Scones

Key Lime Pie Scones

Cinnamon Apple Scones

Cherry Almond Scones

Apricot Walnut Scones

Cranberry Orange Scones

Strawberry Scones

Date, Walnut, Honey Scones

Cuppa Tea or Coffee Scones

Chai Spice Tea Scones

Matcha Tea Scones

Mint Tea Scones

Cappuccino Scones

Mochaccino Scones

Savory Characters

Goat Cheese, Chive Scones

Havarti Dill Scones

Jalapeño Cheddar Scones

Feta Cheese, Olive Scones

Butternut, Shallot, Parmesan Scones

Aunt Jen’s Savory Veggie Scone-Like Things

Herbs and Spices Scones

Lavender Lemon Scones

Aunt Judy’s Herb, Olive Oil Scones

Turmeric Spice, Honey Scones

Odd Ducks

Aunt Carolyn’s Gluten-free Scones

Aunt Judy’s Oat Scones (gluten-free)

Aunt Judy’s Coconut Oat Scones (vegan, gluten-free)

Plant-based Scones (vegan)

Toppers

Large Granule Sugar

Lemon or Lime Glaze

Cinnamon or Ginger Glaze

Chocolate Glaze

Lavender-infused Simple Syrup

Cream Cheese Frosting

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

My inspiration for this book started with a warm batch of scones bursting with fresh Oregon blackberries that I’d collected on a hillside near my home in Portland, Oregon. They provided the signature scone recipe for the fictional character Fiona McPhee, eighty-something aunt of my murder mystery series’ amateur sleuth, Dr. Madeline McPhee. The book really took flight when the title 50 Shades of Scones occurred to me out of the blue. At first, I just thought it was just a funny aside but then all my years of baking scones with various ingredients inspired me to turn it into an actual book. I started to share the idea with friends and they offered to help test recipes, especially the one with bacon which, unlike most people, I don’t like. However, Angus (the Maine Coon cat character in the mysteries) is quite fond of bacon so I needed to have a scone recipe in his honor. My wonderful friend Carolyn offered to help test that recipe. She and other friends also helped develop recipes for people with dietary restrictions like gluten-free and vegan. Together, we pulled off 50 shades of scones, jettisoning a few recipes along the way that didn’t take wing.

As a distant descendent of the British Isles, I have long had a passion for tea and scones. Several decades ago, while my sister Lynn and I journeyed through England, we made sure to stop for a tea break every afternoon. I noticed that scone texture shifted with latitude, with soft, more cake-like scones served in southern England and more biscuit-like scones up north. The recipes in this book are more like the soft scones we had in southern England.

My love of scones increased twenty years ago when my friend Judy (contributor of several recipes in