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
There is nothing I enjoy more than taking a traditional British baking idea and adding my own creative twist to it. Call me crazy, but . . . I get a whole lot of satisfaction out of this activity.
One of my favourite flavours over here has to be Bakewell anything . . . tarts, pudding . . . I think it's just fabulous.
Bakewell tarts are little shortcrust pastry tarts filled with jam and almond flavoured sponge. Topped with an almond fondant icing and a cherry, I even enjoy the cheap grocery shop versions.
Bakewell pudding traditionally has a flakey pastry base, covered with jam and an almond frangipane filling, and is exclusive to the Derbyshire town of Bakewell.
Call it what you will, I just love the elements of Bakewell . . tart, pudding . . . whatever. If you have almonds cherries and jam involved, I am there!
I have made the traditional Bakewell Tarts on here in the past, and then I have played with the flavours a bit more and created Bakewell Whoopie Pies. (Oh my but they were good, good . . . GOOD!) I even once baked a Raspberry Bakewell Cake from a recipe I found in BBC Good Food Magazine.
When we got home from church today I thought I would bake some scones and I thought to myself . . . hmmm . . . Bakewell Scones might be tasty!
Imagine it now . . . yummy sweet seedless raspberry preserves, sandwiched between two scone layers made all buttery and flakey with marzipan and butter having been rubbed in . . . with a touch of flaked coconut (not traditional I know) for some added texture, and then topped with an egg wash and flaked almonds. Baked until scrummily flakey and crisp on the bottom and top and then drizzled with an almond glaze and topped with a glace cherry half, I have only two words to describe these little delights.
Moreishly Moreish!!
Sooooooo scrummily yummy! I bet you can't stop at eating just one . . .
Sinful I know! But what a wonderfully wicked way to go! I think I have found a new weakness to add to the rest . . . sigh . . .
*Bakewell Scones*
Makes 8
Printable Recipe
Raspberry preserves sandwiched between two layers of a scrummy almond and coconut scone dough, topped with crunchy flaked almonds and then finally glazed with an almond glaze and topped with a glace cherry!
8 1/2 ounces plain flour (2 cups)
2 TBS caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 ounces flaked sweetened coconut (1/2 cup)
3 1/2 ounces marzipan, chilled (about 1/3 cup)
2 ounces chilled unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
100ml of milk (1/3 cup)
1 large free range egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 TBS seedless raspberry preserves
1 egg yolk, beaten together with 1/2 tsp water
3 TBS flaked almonds
To glaze:
2 ounces icing sugar
a few drops of almond extract
water
4 glace cherries halved
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*f/ gas mark 5. Lightly butter a baking sheet and set aside.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and coconut together in a bowl. Cut the marzipan and butter into bits and drop them into the flour mixture. Rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Whisk the whole egg, milk and extracts together. Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir in with a fork to make a soft dough. Divide in half and pat out 3/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Stamp into 8 rounds with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, gathering the scraps and repeating until you have 8 rounds. Place the 8 rounds on the baking sheet. Top each with 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam, keeping it in the centre. Pat out the remaining dough to the same thickness as the first lot and stamp out 8 more rounds, once again gathering the scraps and re patting. Place these rounds over top of the jam topped rounds, pressing gently around the edges to seal the jam inside. Brush the tops of each lightly with the egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with flaked almonds, pressing them in gently.
Bake in the heated oven for 18 to 22 minutes, until well risen and golden brown on the tops and bottoms. Remove from the oven to a wire rack.
Whisk together the icing sugar, almond extract and enough water to make a smooth drizzable glaze. Dribble this over the warm scones and top each with a cherry half.
Delicious served warm or cold. Store in a tightly covered container.
Afternoon Tea Week takes place this year from the 10th to the 16th of August and as a proper English Institution it's only right that afternoon tea should be conducted with only the best ingredients. The English Provender Co. has teamed up with Afternoon Tea Week this year to sponsor the tastiest week of the year for a week of activities, themed menus, exclusive offers and competitions.
I did not want to do what everyone else was doing. So I gave up that idea.
Everyone is also doing Coronation Chicken Salad. I really like Coronation Chicken Salad. It is a very popular sandwich filler in the UK, although myself I prefer it on a bed of lettuce.
In the end I decided to throw together a quick tea party and make some tasty Coronation Chicken Salad Tarts to serve. I quite like taking afternoon tea and I have had lots of experience at putting them together as I did many, many of them when I was living in the UK.
I am somewhat limited now as I just don't have the dishes and linens to use, but I thought it would be fun to show you just how quickly you can throw together a simple afternoon tea with minimal effort. Are you in? I hope so!
These are very simple cucumber sandwiches. Cucumber sandwiches are very popular on the tea table. To make these I buttered some sugar free white whole grain bread lightly. I then used a flower shaped cookie cutter to cut out flower shaped bread bases.
Onto those I popped a thin slice of cucumber, and on the cucumber I popped a small ball of onion and garlic Boursin cheese. You can get it in a little pot already rolled into small balls, so cute.
I made some simple radish roses to garnish the plate. They are very easily done. Just wash and dry your radishes and then top and tail then so you have a flat surface at either end. Then take the tip of a sharp knife and insert it in a zig zag pattern all round the middle of the radish, going through to the center but no further.
Once you have done that all the way around you can easily twist them apart and pop them into some ice water until you are ready to use them. Very pretty and such a simple make.
Scones are a must with afternoon tea. You can make your own, or you buy some in ready made. I have a great Plain Scone recipe which you can find here.
Its a complete tutorial and if followed will yield 6 to 10 beautiful scones. I also have a fruited scone recipe which is amazing. You can find that recipe here. This is also a complete tutorial.
You can serve the scones with clotted cream if you are so lucky as to have some available to you, or you can serve them with whipped thick cream, and of course some jam. Today my jam was mango and peach. Bonne Maman of course. I love their jams.
The center of any good tea table is usually a cake. You can make a lovely cake from scratch if you have the time, but if it is the last minute, you can buy a very good cake from the shops and dress it up, which is what I have done here today.
This was a simple Birthday Butter cake, single layer with a natural butter cream frosting. I carefully scraped off the red roses and green leaves that were on the top with a sharp knife and then I covered the top with fresh fruit, raspberries and blackberries.
I wanted it to look like the Union Jack to honor the occasion, but alas, it lost something in translation. I think it would have looked better on a much larger cake. Never mind, it was still pretty and it tasted fabulous.
Then I added a small plate of some other sweet meats I happened to have in the house. An assortment of chocolate covered cookies/biscuits and some small tarts, jam, lemon curd and butter. None of the tarts was any larger than a mouthful, which is what you want.
Some other things you could have are small bite sized sausage rolls, or deviled eggs. You can have more than one kind of finger sandwich if you wanted to. Some suggestions are egg salad and cress, sliced tomato and cheese, and cheese and pickle.
These Coronation Chicken Salad Tarts make the perfect bite of course! Easy to hold in the hand and no more than three or four bites of deliciousness.
Flavored with some apple cider vinegar and curry powder. You can adjust how much, using more or less according to your taste.
I kept everything chopped very small because I was putting the salad into small baked tart shells. You can use leftover cooked chicken, chopped, or you can poach some chicken breast meat to use, which is what I did.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CORONATION CHICKEN SALAD TARTS
Very simple ingredients and not a lot really. I have downsized and adapted the recipe for the filling from a chicken salad recipe I found here. You can of course use it as a sandwich filling, or serve it on lettuce leaves. Its up to you.
For the chicken:
- 3/4 pound (340g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
For the dressing:
- 3/4 cup (165g) mayonnaise
- 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBS honey
- 1 TBS good quality mango chutney
- 1 1/2 - 2 tsp mild curry powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
You will also need:
- The rounded cheek of 1/2 red apple, cut into 1//4 inch dice (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 TBS raisins, chopped
- 2 TBS chopped salted cashew nuts
- 2 TBS red onion, finely chopped
- 12 baked small tart shells (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
Because I knew I was going to be filling baked tart shells, I made sure to chop everything for the salad very fine, about a 1/4 inch dice. An apple cheek is the rounded part of an apple, its cheek. 😄
I did not bother to peel because I wanted the color of the red skin. I chose to add some chutney on my own. It was not a part of the original chicken salad recipe. I like chutney and I love it in a curried chicken salad.
HOW TO MAKE CORONATION CHICKEN SALAD TARTS
Its really very simple. If you are not using leftover roast chicken you will need to poach some. Very easily done.
To poach your chicken, place the chicken into a saucepan along with the stock, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Cook at a low simmer until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside (about 10 to 15 minutes.) Remove the pan from the heat and leave the chicken to cool completely in the broth.
Remove the chicken from the broth and chop finely. Place into a bowl.
Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together until smooth, adjusting seasoning as required.
Fold the dressing into the chicken along with the apple, raisins, nuts and onion. Taste and adjust the seasoning as required. Cover and chill for an hour, or as long as overnight. (This helps to meld the flavors.)
To serve spoon the chicken salad into the baked tart shells and serve immediately. I chose to garnish each tart with a salted cashew nut. If you are worried people might have nut allergies, leave the nuts out altogether.
These were really very moreish. With crisp buttery pastry, cupping that lush and lightly spiced and fruity chicken salad, they went down a real treat.
I think I had a very nice little plate of goodies there to quaff along with a nice hot cup of tea. Herbal of course. I chose Mint tea today.
I know that the King's coronation is actually tomorrow, but in the world of blogging we do and share everything early so as to give you all the time to do it as well, and on the day if you so wish! Enjoy!
Some other Royal teatime treats that you might enjoy are:
VICTORIA SCONES - From the Bero Cookbook, these lovely scones have a beautiful texture and go together quickly. Said to be a favorite of Queen Victoria's, these scones are decorated with sweet candied cherries.
QUEEN CAKES - These little currant studded buttery cakes go beautifully with tea. They can be baked in heart shaped tins or in muffin tins. Flavored with lemon zest, these are lovely little cakes that everyone enjoys!
QUEEN OF HEARTS JAM TARTS - These little jam tarts with their pastry heart adornment are absolutely gorgeous. I am not surprised the Knave of Hearts wanted to steal them! They are delicious!
Yield: 12 tarts
Coronation Chicken Salad Tarts
Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 25 M
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 3/4 pound (340g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
For the dressing:
- 3/4 cup (165g) mayonnaise
- 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBS honey
- 1 TBS good quality mango chutney
- 1 1/2 - 2 tsp mild curry powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
You will also need:
- The rounded cheek of 1/2 red apple, cut into 1//4 inch dice (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 TBS raisins, chopped
- 2 TBS chopped salted cashew nuts
- 2 TBS red onion, finely chopped
- 12 baked small tart shells (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
Instructions
- To poach your chicken, place the chicken into a saucepan along with the stock, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Cook at a low simmer until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside (about 10 to 15 minutes.) Remove the pan from the heat and leave the chicken to cool completely in the broth.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and chop finely. Place into a bowl.
- Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together until smooth, adjusting seasoning as required.
- Fold the dressing into the chicken along with the apple, raisins, nuts and onion. Taste and adjust the seasoning as required.
- Cover and chill for an hour, or as long as overnight.
- To serve spoon the chicken salad into the baked tart shells and serve immediately.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
I just love scones and am always thinking of different ways I can make them. My husband doesn't mind as he gets to enjoy the fruits of my labors. Today it was Peach, Vanilla and Poppyseed scones and let me tell you they are every bit as delicious as the name implies!
Originally I created them to use fresh peaches, the ones which you get at the shops that are a bit too hard to each out of hand. They are perfect for things like this or for this Green Peach Salad. (which is beautiful, trust me on this!)
The nice thing about these is that you can also use tinned peaches if that is all you have. Just be sure to pat them really dry first with some paper kitchen toweling.
That is what I used today because that is all I had. They work beautifully. I add them in with the poppyseeds, tossing them in with a fork.
You get the buttery crisp scone, moreishly flaky . . . tender sweet pieces of peach . . . crunchy poppyseeds, infused with vanilla . . .
I like to brush them with some cream and sprinkle them with Demerara Sugar prior to baking for some added interest, texture and flavour.
Spread with some clotted cream and apricot jam, these always go down a real treat. Break out the tea-pots and cups! A nice hot herbal infusion goes very well. I like Earl Grey Rooibos. Together they are just lovely.
*Peach, Vanilla & Poppyseed Scones*
Makes 10
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
Sift
the flour into a bowl along with the sugar and baking powder. Drop in
the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture
resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the chopped peaches and the poppyseeds.
Whisk together the vanilla, egg and milk. Add to the dry mixture to
make a soft dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead
gently. Pat out about 1 1/2 inch thick. Stamp out into rounds with a
very sharp 3 inch round cutter. Place onto the baking sheet. Push any
trimmings together and re-pat out to stamp out more rounds if necessary
and also place on the baking sheet. Brush tops lightly with cream and
sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve slightly warm with clotted cream and apricot jam. Fabulous!
Brrrr . . . we have been having a real cold snap of weather this past week and they are saying now we are in for the coldest Winter we have had in a while.
I think you are really going to enjoy these delicious biscuits I am sharing with you today, and by biscuit in this case I mean bread/biscuits, not cookie/biscuits! Over here in the UK, they call cookies biscuits. They don't really do baking powder biscuits, although they do scones.
Scones and biscuits are two entirely different things. The difference mainly boils down to one single ingredient and that is an egg. Scones usually contain eggs, biscuits normally do not. Biscuits tend to be flaky, whereas scones tend to be crumbly and more cake like.
When it comes to flaky, they don't get flakier than these Mile High Greek Yogurt Biscuits!
Just look at all of those flaky layers . . . because the butter in this recipe is quite cold when blended in and is only coarsly blended into the flour mixture, when it melts it leaves lots of air pockets, which is what creates all of that flakiness!
And yet . . . there are only 4 TBS butter in the whole recipe, which works out about 1/2 TBS per biscuit.
More of the flakiness comes from the baking powder reacting with the acid in the Greek yogurt, causing the dough to expand exponentially. (Love that word!)
The end result is a biscuit that is light as a cloud, and filled with lots of flaky pockets.
Because the biscuits themselves are relatively low in fat, you don't need to feel guilty at loading them up with cold butter when it comes to the eating. What's your favourite thing to enjoy with hot biscuits?
Personally I love them spread when they are hot with plenty of cold butter and creamed honey. OH boy . . . you don't get much better than that! Unless you add some shaved ham in between . . . mmm . . mmm . . . mmm . . .
Hot biscuits, cold butter, creamed honey and shaved ham . . . . a bit of baking powder biscuit heaven to my way of thinking, and no, I am not from the South.
Athough Nova Scotia (where I am originally from) is in the Bible belt of Canada, which kind of equates to the Southern States which are the Bible belt of American and where they really enjoy their biscuits and ham!
One thing is for certain and that is this . . . these are delicious and a real family pleaser whether you serve them with honey and ham or not. Butter is not optional. If you are a person who eats biscuits without butter you are on the wrong page!
Mile High Greek Yogurt Biscuits
Yield: 8
These easy biscuits rise really tall and flaky, but are considerably lower in fat than many others. Fabulously tasty!
Ingredients:
- 280g plain flour (2 cups unbleached all-purpose)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 4 TBS cold butter
- 245g low fat Greek yogurt (1 cup)
Instructions:
How to cook Mile High Greek Yogurt Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a baking sheet.
- Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder. Stir in the salt. Drop the cold butter into the bowl and cut it in with a pastry blender, until the flour mixture resembles coarse sand with chunks of butter the size of small peas. Using a fork stir in the yogurt. Gently mix to a soft dough in the bowl.
- Tear off a sheet of baking parchment large enough for your baking sheet. Put the dough on the sheet of paper and pat out to a rectangle, roughly 1 inch in thickness. Cut into 8 smaller rectangles. Gently push them apart leaving plenty of space in between. Carefully transfer the paper to the baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or unti they are well risen and golden brown on the top and bottom. Best enjoyed whilst still warm.
All kidding aside you really do need to bake these biscuits for your family this weekend. Not only are they low in fat and high in flake and flavour, but they are very quick and easy to make as well. Just remember one thing and you'll be okay. A light touch is always the best option when dealing with biscuits. Oh, and another positive thing, no flour is wasted in this recipe. Every scrap gets used up.
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