Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Scones. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Scones. Sort by date Show all posts
I am a lover of quick breads . . . scones, tea loaves, baking powder biscuits, muffins, corn bread, etc. I just love them. One of the reasons I love them is because they are quick to put together and they freeze really well. If you are making a pot of soup, it really isn't much extra work to put together a savoury muffin or quick bread to go along with it, and they realy turn a simple meal into something very special.
One cake which I fell totally in love with when I moved to the UK was the Traditional Battenburg Cake. This was not a cake which I had ever heard of prior to moving there.
There really is no end to the varieties of traditional and regional cakes and goodies amongst those fertile green and septred isles! With it's church window appearance, delicious texture and flavours, the Battenburg was one of my favourites.
After the holidays we are firmly entrenched in Winter, and with Covid, this year can be feeling especially depressing to you. We are all stuck in our homes, and our natural freedoms have been somewhat curtailed, and for good reason.
We may find ourselves in need of a "Pick Me Up" maybe more than ever. One thing I really like to do in the Winter months is to plan and prepare a small Tea Party, even if it is just for one or two people.
A Tea Party is one way to perk up your days and bring a bit of sunshine into your life! Are we not all in need of a bit of a lift?
You don't need anything special, or a load of people to attend. Some of the best tea parties of
all happen when there's just two of you, and I have been known to really enjoy an intimate tea party for just one. And why not?
All you need is a table spread with a fine cloth and some tea . . . in a
pot of course, (today we had blackberry and mint and it was
delicious!) and cups and saucers. You also need some delicious foods, although they need not be overly complicated.
The perfect afternoon tea (or High Tea as it is also called) should begin with some delicious savouries . .
. finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, little toasts, savoury pastries . .
. followed with scones (if you wish) and a selection of small fancies and
cakes.
You don't need a lot of sandwiches, only a few different types will do. I think we all have things in our cupboards and larders to make up a few sandwiches. Egg Salad. Ham. Cheese and pickle. Tomato. Cucumber (very traditional). There is no end to the types we can make.
Sausage rolls and tiny turnovers are also very popular. We had some in the freezer leftover from Christmas. Even Deviled Eggs can be quite welcome! I adore Deviled Eggs. You can find my recipe for those here.
For dainties all you need is a selection of a few bits and bobs. I am sure we all still have things leftover from Christmas. Shortbread cookies, squares and the like.
You don't really need a lot of them, one or two per person is quite sufficient. Even fancy chocolates are a treat. Just choose a few bits that really strike your fancy and give you a small bit of pleasure.
Of course the star of any good Tea Table will be a fresh baked cake. You won't get much nicer than a beautiful Battenburg Cake. If you love almond, then this is the cake for you.
A firm favourite on
the traditional English tea table, this is a very pretty two coloured
sponge cake, put together like a pink and white checker board pattern. I think you may actually be quite surprised as how very easy it is to make one of these delicious cakes!
You only need to create a simple sponge cake batter. The sponge batter is divided in half with one half being coloured pink with a bit of pink food colouring.
These get baked in the same tin. If you like you can separate the two batters with a strip of aluminium foil, or bake them separately in small loaf tins. .
Personally, I never have a problem baking them both in the same cake tin however.
They stay largely separate and you will be trimming the edges once the
cake has cooled, so it is very easy to separate the two colours.
Once cooled each colour is separated, trimmed and cut into two long strips. These strips are then sandwiched together in a checkerboard pattern, using seedless raspbery jelly and vanilla buttercream as a glue.
Its quite simply really. If your cake is completely cold you only need a good and sharp serrated knife to do the job. Just cut and trim as needed.
You don't have to put jam and butter cream between each layer if you don't want to, although that is traditional. On this day I did jam one way and buttercream the other way. Feel free to use a good quality store brand if that is what you have.
Raspberry jam and butter cream are traditional, but do feel free to use something else if you are not fond. This is all about creating a pretty cake that everyone will enjoy.
Once you have your checkerboard created you will need to brush the whole cake in more jam and then wrap it in a thin layer of marzipan. The marzipan gets rolled out very thinly on a layer of granulated sugar, which helps to prevent it from sticking to the cutting board/counter and adds a delightful crunch.
If you are really feeling keen and industrious you can stretch this a bit and make a Hazelnut Battenburg Cake. This is a wonderful riff on the traditional, composed of a chocolate hazelnut batter layered with the white cake.
As you can see this is also very pretty. The layers are sandwiched together with chocolate hazelnut spread. I use nutella.
It is incredibly moreish. Especially if you enjoy chocolate!
When cut into slices this is a beautiful cake. I think it is really quite amazing looking. It is very impressive and not all that difficult.
It does require a little bit of
patience, but it's well worth any effort taken. It may take a bit of
practice to get the marzipan as tight as you would like it, but do
persevere as it is most beautiful when done
If you are looking for a mighty fine cake to serve at your teatime table, then this is the one to choose. Pretty and delicious. What more could you want??? Nom! Nom!
Yield: 6
Battenburg Cake
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 55 Min
This is a traditional cake that has appearing in British cookery books for over two centuries. The finished cake resembles somewhat a church stained glass window. This is a real treat for almond lovers and not as hard to make as it would seem!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup (175g) butter, softened
- 1 cup minus 2 TBS (175g) caster sugar
- 3 large free range eggs, beaten
- 1 1/4 cups (175g) self raising flour
- a little red food colouring
You will also need:
- 2/3 pound (275g) of natural almond paste (marzipan)
- warmed seedless raspberry jam (about 3 TBS)
- vanilla buttercream icing (about 3 TBS)
- granulated sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 7-inch square cake tin and line with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter together with the sugar until very light and fluffy.
- Add the lightly beaten eggs and the flour, a little at a time, beating until smooth.
- Divide the cake batter in half, placing each half in a different bowl.
- Tint one half with a bit of red food colouring to give you a pink batter.
- Spoon the pink batter into the left hand side of the tin, and the normal colour into the other side. Smooth the top gently.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until firm when lightly pressed in the centre.
- Carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before proceeding.
- When the cake is completely cool, trim the edges of the cake and then divide it equally into 4 long sections, with two being pink and two being white.
- Using a little of the butter cream and some of the warmed raspberry jam, place one of each colour on the bottom and the remaining two on top. alternating the colours to give you a chequer board pattern and having some butter cream and jam between each. You will not need much, only just enough to make them adhere to the other.
- Dust the counter top with some granulated sugar and then roll out the marzipan on top. You need to roll it thinly into an oblong roughly the length of the cake and large enough to roll around the cake.
- Spread with a thin layer of jam and then place the sponge checkerboard on top. Roll the marzipan around the cake and seal with a bit more jam.
- Trim the edges neatly at each end. Place onto a plate with the "seam" underneath and lightly mark the top in the traditional criss cross pattern.
notes:
Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I have to say that one of my absolute favourite things is Lemon Curd. I could sit down and eat it with a spoon.
I have always made my own. Its not all that hard to do and tastes unbelievably better than the store bought stuff. Seriously.
I found myself with some lemons and limes that needed using up today and I had in mind to do a Lemon & Lime curd, but was a bit unsure as to what proportions of each I should use.
After doing a search I found what looked like a great recipe on the Waitrose site. I decided to charge things up a bit however and add some fresh ginger root to the mix, as I also had a knob of that which needed using up.
The people at English Provender had once sent me some Lemon and Ginger Curd and it was very moreish, so I thought why not!
The end result was something so fabulous that I think you are really going to love it!
Its tart and sweet and has just a bit of gingery heat to it, but not obnoxiously so.
This would make a fabulous filling for a cake I think . . . maybe even a banana cake . . . hmmm . . . the wheels are turning.
I also make a lovely lemon drizzle loaf which uses lemon curd, so I think I am going to try using some of it in that. (You will find that recipe in the same place as my regular lemon curd recipe. See link above.)
See how lovely and thick it is? And tis photo was taken while it was still a bit warm.
I couldn't wait to show you. It thickens up beautifully in the refrigerator.
Mmmm . . . so tasty. I had a huge Bon Maman jam jar from some jam I had gotten a while back at Costco and that is what I have used to store it in.
I think we will make pretty short work of this.
I couldn't resist trying some on top of a soda cracker just to taste it . . . you know how it goes. Oh boy. This is one gorgeous curd!!
I hope you will give it a go. Making curd is not that easy if you follow the directions perfectly. And even if your eggs do end up curdling a bit, its not the end of the world, just strain out the curdles.
It will still be perfectly edible, but in all truth if you are careful and temper your eggs first, then that just won't happen!
*Lemon, Lime & Ginger Curd*
Makes 600ml (2 1/2 cups)
Creamy,
tart and tangy. This gorgeous spread is very simple to make and tastes
fabulous spread onto warm scones or toast, between cake layers etc.
the finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes
the finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated
250g caster sugar (1 1/3 cup)
125g butter, cut into small bits (1/2 cup)
4 large free range eggs, beaten
Place the grated ginger root, lemon and lime zests and juices into a
heatproof bowl, large enough to fit over a pan of gently simmering
water. Stir in the sugar and add the butter. Place over the simmering
water and cook, stirring occasionally until the butter and sugar both
melt.
Whisk a bit of this hotter mixture into the beaten eggs to temper it,
then slowly whisk the eggs back into the bowl of juices, etc. Make sure
you don't forget to temper the eggs as you will end up with scrambled
egg.
Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens
enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. This will take 20 to 25
minutes over water at a low simmer. Stirring is not optional, you must
stir it continuously or the mixture will not thicken evenly.
Remove the bowl from the pan and strain the curd into clean and
sterilised jars. (This is not totally necessary, but I like to strain
any solids out so that the mixture is completely smooth.)
Cover and allow
to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator. This will keep
for about a week. So I would give a jar away. I am sure nobody will
refuse it.
I adapted this recipe from one I found on the Waitrose site for Tangy Lemon and Lime Curd. I thought that fresh ginger would be a fabulous addition to the flavours and I was right! I love it when that happens!
All of the content you see on this page (both photographic and written) is the express property of The English Kitchen (Marie Rayner). Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Thank you for visiting! Do come again!
Irish Apple Cake. Apple Cake has to be one of the most delicious cakes a person can bake. You cannot beat a cake that is filled with sweet tender slices of apple and warm baking spices. Unless you are talking about an "Irish" Apple Cake.
And then the combination becomes absolutely unbeatable. Tender apple slices baked in a cake batter and then topped with a wholesome oat streusel. Add flaked almonds to that streusel and you have one very delicious cake!
Every year I like to bake an Irish Apple Cake for Saint Patrick's Day. The first time I made it, I made a recipe adapted from a recipe I got from a Rachel Allen Cookery Book. If you are not familiar with who she is, she is the daughter in law of Darina Allen, the doyenne of Irish cookery.
They run the Ballymaloe House, Restaurant and Cookery School in Ireland. I had always wanted to go to this cookery school, but never got there.
I am not sure what makes this an Irish Cake. I would say more that it is a cake in the European tradition, in that it is somewhat denser than North American Cakes, and the manner of putting it together is also somewhat different.
It is kind of done in layers. You make a cake batter, which you spread in the pan and top with sliced apple, topping that finally with a streusel layer. This year I added some flaked almonds to the streusel to amp it up. Lovely-icious!
The cake itself is moist and delicious, lightly spiced with cinnamon. You put it together in a way that is very different than North American cakes. You rub the butter into the flour, almost like you would do if you were making scones.
North American cakes are a lot sweeter than European cakes. I have to say, not trying to be rude, but I prefer the lesser sweetness of European styled cakes.
We North Americans make and use far too much sugar I think. Living in the UK, I got used to their way of doing things. Even the bread in North America is too sweet for my taste. I had noticed that the last time I was home with mom.
Most of the sweetness in this cake comes from the apples and the streusel topping. You want to use a nice cooking apple for the filling. Cooking apples are a bit more tart than regular apples. You could use Granny Smith or a Cortland.
These are tossed with some sugar and cinnamon before laying them on top of the cake base in the pan. Sometimes I will add a bit of nutmeg. The warm flavour of nutmeg goes very well with apples and you don't need a lot of it. A little bit always goes a long way.
More sweetness comes from the streusel topping. It is sweet and wholesome and adds a lovely crunch to the top of the cake. Oats make it really wholesome, but adding flaked almonds made it nice and crunchy.
Apple and almond is a very quintessentially moreish combination. But then again, so is apple and oats.
This not too sweet cake goes excellently with a nice hot drink. (Also a European tradition.) Hot cups of tea if you are so inclined or Coffee both go very well. That makes it the perfect cake for a mid morning or mid afternoon treat.
It also makes for a fabulous dessert however. Especially when paired with a custard sauce/creme anglaise in the European fashion. You can find my recipe for the custard sauce here.
Serving this warm with custard sauce is a very British thing to do. I can remember when I first moved to the UK, we were taken out for dinner by the people in our church to celebrate our wedding. At the end of the meal I was asked what I wanted for pudding.
I was thinking pudding . . . hmmm . . . butterscotch, vanilla or chocolate. I like all three, but the word Pudding has a totally different context over there in the UK.
In the UK the term "Pudding" is meant to mean a course, ie. dessert. So when they ask you if you want pudding, what they really mean is do you want dessert?
And then, once you get the dessert, do you want it with lashings of cream or custard, or . . . both! Believe it or not I know people who would choose both.
And the cream is never sweetened, or whipped, just poured. Even the custard is not overly sweet in comparison to our puddings/desserts. And lashings . . . means poured liberally over top.
In restaurants your dessert will often come with its own little jug of each. I do love either one. But the North American in me will always love Ice Cream most of all and with a cake like this is has to be vanilla ice cream.
You don't want to serve it with anything that is going to detract from the lush flavors of the apple and the cinnamon and the streusel. Vanilla works best with all those things.
But its your dessert, so you go ahead and have whatever you want. I am thinking Maple Walnut would be nice, but then I am nuts for Maple Walnut ice cream! But again, not very Irish.
In any case, if you are looking for a fabulous dessert to serve with your Saint Patrick's day dinner on the 17th of March, you can't go far wrong by serving this!
Irish Apple Cake
Yield: 6 - 8
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 50 Mininactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
A delicious version of an apple cake, baked with tasty apple slices sandwiched in the center. Serve warm with or without custard, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (280g) self raising flour (You may need extra, see note below to make your own)
- 1/2 cup (125g) butter
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (use caster sugar in the UK)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
For the filling:
- 2 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 1/2 TBS soft light brown sugar
For the Streusel Topping:
- 3/4 cup (105 g) plain flour
- 1/4 cup (20g) old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (in the UK use caster sugar)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 TBS butter, cut into bits
- 4 TBS flaked almonds
To serve:
- Icing sugar to dust
- Custard sauce or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep flan tin, with a loose bottom, roughly 9 inches in diameter. Set aside.
- Make the Streusel. Measure the flour and oats and sugar into a bowl. Stir in the cinnamon. Drop in the butter. Rub together with your fingers until it clumps together and you have a crumble mixture. Stir in the flaked almonds.
- Place the flour and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips to form a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the sugar. Add the beaten egg and milk and mix together with a round bladed knife.
- If the dough seems a bit too sticky add a bit more flour. You want a soft dough.
- Spoon the dough into the prepared pan, making it higher around the edges, about 1 inch into the center with a hollowed out space to put the apples.
- Spread the apple slices evenly over the center of the base. Press them down lightly. Sprinkle with the soft light brown sugar and the cinnamon.
- Sprinkle the streusel over top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.
- Let stand in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing the sides.
- Place the tin on top of a jar and push the sides of the pan down and remove. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool to warm.
- Dust with icing sugar before cutting into wedges to serve, with or without ice cream or custard.
Notes:
Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.
One of our favourite things to eat here in the UK at this time of year are blackberries and they are pretty much free for the asking, as they grow wild in the hedgerows all across the country. They are quite prolific and need little or no care really, which is probably why they can be found in such abundance. They can be somewhat of a nuisance to home gardeners whose aim is to have a very manicured garden, as they do have a habit of popping up in the most diverse of places, their canes travelling beneath the ground. I, for one, don't really mind. We love blackberries and cannot get enough of them when they are at their best, eating them fresh as often as possible . . . and I try to freeze as many as I can as well, for winter time treats. We grown our own in our garden . . . well, I say that. We actually planted tayberries, but they've become blackberries for the most part. The blackberries which grow in the hedgerow bordering our property have taken over somewhat and intermingled with them, so what we have now is a happy mixture of them both.
Most Sunday afternoons I bake something scrummy for a light supper late in the afternoon. We are usually starving when we come in from church and so have a quick bite then . . . so we're not really all that hungry when the evening rolls around. Just a bit peckish . . . a quick scrummy bite is usually all we want.
Sometimes it's a fruity quick bread, or scones . . . or cakes. (I know naughty me!) Today it was these lovely Cranberry, Orange and Pistachio Muffins.
This folks is precisely why I stock up on fresh cranberries when they are abundant in the shops before Christmas. I just throw them in the freezer bag and all. That way I have lots of cranberry scrumminess to look forward to in the winter months . . .
. . . those dark and dull days that are so grey and gloomy . . . with not much to brighten them up. Damp and blah . . .
These lovely little muffins are like pretty little jewels in a winter wasteland! So bright with the cheery red cranberries and green pistachio nuts! Almost Christmassy . . . but they're not for Christmas coz it's January.
Light and moist and oh so yumbly tumbly good Good GOOD!
You can store any that you don't eat right away in a tightly covered tin and refresh them for a few seconds in the microwave before eating. Not that you will have much left over . . . but you might. You never know. Miracles happen every day.
*Cranberry, Orange and Pistachio Muffins*
Makes 6 large muffins, or 8 medium
Printable Recipe
Moist and flavourful muffins with just the right amount of tang and sweetness. The cranberry and pistachio topping is so pretty!
2 large free range eggs
80g caster sugar (scant half cup)
50ml of sunflower oil (1/4 cup)
the finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of one orange
150g of plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
100g fresh or frozen cranberries (1 cup)
Topping:
50g of fresh or frozen cranberries (1/2 cup)
hand ful of shelled pistachio nuts, chopped
demerara sugar to sprinkle.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a muffin tray with either 6 large muffin cups or 8 medium cups.
Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil, orange zest and orange juice together well. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the wet ingredients all at once and fold together, just to moisten all. Stir in the cranberries. Spoon into the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full. Sprinkle the remaining cranberries on top, dividing them amongst each. Sprinkle each with some chopped pistachio nuts and aa generous sprinkle of demerara sugar.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes without opening the door. When they are ready they should be well risen and spring back when lightly touched.
Remove to a wire rack to cool somewhat before eating. Stire in a anrtight container for up to 3 days. (You can refresh them with a quick burst in the microwave.)
Over in The Cottage today, a delicious Deep Dish Salmon Pie.
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