Showing posts sorted by date for query Scones. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Scones. Sort by relevance Show all posts
This coming Monday will be Saint George's Day. All of the beautiful countries in the United Kingdom have a Patron Saint and the Patron Saint of England (where I live) is Saint George! St George's Day was a major feast and national holiday in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century. The tradition of celebration St George's day had waned by the end of the 18th century after the union of England and Scotland. These days it barely gets a nod, except in certain circles, but I, for one, think that it is the perfect day to celebrate our "Englishness," and what better way to do that than by baking up some lovely scones. There are not many more things English than a warm scone smothered with jam and cream!
These scones are particularly lovely, with lots of wholesome nuggets of granola throughout, along with a healthy studding of dried black currants. (Oh we do love our black currants here in the UK!)
The Granola I chose to use today was Lizi's award winnig Granola. Lizi's products supply wholesome food that deliver sustained energy and protein throughout the day.
All Lizi’s Granolas are:
- 100% Natural Ingredietnts
- No GMO’s
- No added salt
- Dairy-free, wheat-free recipes*
- Suitable for vegetarians and vegans (no honey)
- Low glycaemic – GL labelled – good for blood sugar control
Its available in a variety of flavours such as the Original, Passionfruit & Pistachio, Treacle & Pecan, Mango & Macadamia, Belgian Chocolate, Pink Apple & Cinnamon, Low Sugar, High Protein, Gluten Free and Organic. The Original and Low Sugar are also available in portion packs of 10. To find out more be sure to check out their page. I love them!
Today I used their low sugar variety, as I figured with the sugar and honey in the recipe, they didn't need a whole lot more sugar, and it was the perfect choice!
I decided to pull out all the stops today and got out my best tea cloth . . . my Katie Lizzie cups and saucers, tea plates and my pedestal cake stand . . .
Not too sweet, but lovely, buttery and short, almost like a pastry . . .
Studded with lovely dried black currants, and the granola . . . make sure you use a free flowing type of granola. You don't want one which has huge nuggets in it. Lizi's is perfect for this. It is filled with lots of seeds like sunflower and pumpkin as well, adding even more interest . . .
Fruity jam and clotted cream are a must! (If you can't get the clotted cream, you can use softly whipped cream.) I favour berry jam . . . strawberry or raspberry . . .
I like to spread the cream on first . . .
topping it with the jam . . .
Wars have broken out over which is the proper way . . . cream or jam first . . . to me it doesn't matter. Just so long as there is cream and jam!
*Lizi's Granola Scones*
Makes 8
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g dried currants (1/2 cup)
1 TBS double cream for brushing
To serve:
Clotted cream or whipped cream
jam
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. (180*fan) Line a baking sheet with baking paper and set aside.
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into small bits and drop into the flour mixture. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until you have a mixture resembling bread crumbs. (althernately you can do this in the food processor.) Stir in 2/3 of the granola and the currants. Mix together the cream, egg, honey and vanilla. Add all at once to the dry mixture and mix together to make a soft craggy dough.
Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a round about 8 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut into 8 wedges. Transfer each wedge to the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space in between each. Brush the top of each lightly with cream and sprinkle with some of the remaing granola.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until well risen and golden brown.
To serve split in half and serve with clotted cream and jam.
I don't think I have ever met a scone that I did not fall in love with. Sweet or savoury, they all hit the spot with me. People tend to think that scones and biscuits are the same thing, which is not exactly true, although they may seem very similar in texture and taste. And that is not to confuse British biscuits (which are cookies) with North American Biscuits (which are a type of quick bread similar to a scone!) Are you confused yet?
A biscuit is not a scone people and a scone is not a biscuit. The two are definitely not interchangeable! To be sure, they are composed of basically the same things . . . fat, leavener, dairy and flour . . . but the very way that they are put together generally results in a somewhat different animal altogether. Biscuits tend to be light and airy, with almost visibly defined, flaky layers. A scone, on the other hand, whilst also light and somewhat airy, has an almost crumbly texture. When you are making a good biscuit, the fat is "Cut" into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until the mixture has lumps of fat in it the size of small peas. Fat in a scone is "Rubbed" in with your fingertips, in an almost snapping motion, until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
See, two different creations entirely . . . and both can have various amounts of sugar in them, or no sugar in them, and can come in sweet and savoury versions.
Now lets talk about Bacon. Who doesn't love Bacon (barring all vegetarians.) I don't know any meat lover that doesn't wax poetic about a lovely piece of bacon. Before I moved here to the UK, I only knew one kind of bacon, and that was . . . well . . . bacon. Oh, and Canadian bacon, which was quite nice and meaty. Since moving over here I discovered that there are all kinds of bacon. First there is smoked and non-smoked. Then there is dry cured and wet cured. Bacon over here mostly looked like the kind you see in the bottom of the above photo, which is kind of like Canadian bacon with a leg of streaky bacon attached. Streaky bacon is the type that I had grown up with for the most part, like you see in the upper right hand photo. Fattier. And then there was rind on and rind off. I have never come to enjoy it with the rind on. I don't like bacon rinds. So I always buy it rind removed, dry cured and depending on what I am using it for either smoked or non-smoked, and they are now bringing in nitrate free cured bacon, which is good news for us who want to avoid nitrates.
Cheese. Before moving to the UK, the most adventurous I got with cheese was having sliced Havarti on a sandwich, or treating us to a small block of marble cheese if we were having company, or, yes . . . a piece of Kraft Cracker Barrel Cheese at Christmas. We did use smelly-sock (Parmesan) from the green can (I put my hand up) on our spaghetti, but that was the whole extent of my cheese usage. I was a cheese virgin so to speak. Living in the UK has been a wonderful education to me of all the wonderful cheeses that are available here in the UK, and indeed Europe altogether. It has been an education and a journey I have greatly enjoyed. My husband will tell you (and he is a Brit through and through) that there is no cheese worth eating except for Cheddar. He is a huge fan and was very disappointed when we were on the continent and couldn't find good old cheddar cheese in the shops there. Never mind, when I do a cheese tray, he happily helps himself to all the cheeses, but lets just say that a good strong cheddar is his favourite. And I have to agree that a good strong cheddar, slightly crumbly and sharp flavoured, is a thing of beautiful taste to be sure.
So what do you get when you combine the three of those things? A good strong cheddar. Some crisp streaky dry cured smoked bacon. And a good scone?
Well, you get another thing of beauty . . . Cheese and Bacon Scones. Crunchy on the outside and so soft and flaky on the insides . . . all
buttery and stogged full of strong cheddar cheese and . . . lovely
salty, smoky bacon. Perfect for serving with soups, salads, or even just hot and buttered with a nice hot cuppa on a leisurely afternoon.
*Cheese and Bacon Scones*
Makes 15 to 20, depending on how big you cut them
Makes 15 to 20, depending on how big you cut them
Scrumdiddlyumpitiously savoury. Perfect with some sliced ham or cheese, or both. You can vary the spiciness of them by adjusting the amount of cayenne used.
490g plain flour (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 level tsp of cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
2 TBS cold butter, cubed
4 ounces bacon, grilled and finely chopped with a sharp knife, or
in the food processor
115g strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)
1 medium free range egg
375ml of sour milk or buttermilk (1 2/3 cup)
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Dust a large baking sheet lightly with flour. Set aside.
Sift the flour, soda, cayenne pepper and salt into a large bowl. Drop in the butter and then rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs. Stir in the bacon and cheese.
Whisk together the egg and milk.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix to a soft dough with your hand by running it around the bowl. Try not to knead it as this will develop the gluten which will toughen the scones. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. (The dough will be quite sticky) Pat out with floured hands until you get a square 3/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut it into 15 to 20 squares. (Alternately you can cut them out with a sharp knife or a 2 inch round cutter) Place onto the floured baking sheet leaving about 2 inches between each.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Sift the flour, soda, cayenne pepper and salt into a large bowl. Drop in the butter and then rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs. Stir in the bacon and cheese.
Whisk together the egg and milk.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix to a soft dough with your hand by running it around the bowl. Try not to knead it as this will develop the gluten which will toughen the scones. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. (The dough will be quite sticky) Pat out with floured hands until you get a square 3/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut it into 15 to 20 squares. (Alternately you can cut them out with a sharp knife or a 2 inch round cutter) Place onto the floured baking sheet leaving about 2 inches between each.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
The English, especially English men, find a particular comfort in drawing closed the curtains on a leaden afternoon sky, lighting the fire and enjoying some little delicacy that they can toast and butter themselves.
Afternoon Winter Teas have the capacity to chase away the Winter blues like nothing else can . . .
"The fire was blazing brightly under the influence of the bellows, and the kettle was singing gaily under the influence of both. A small tray of tea-things was arranged on the table, a plate of hot-buttered toast was gently simmering before the fire, and the red nosed man himself was busily engaged in converting a large slice of bread into the same agreeable edible, through the instrumentality of a long brass toasting fork."
~Charles Dickens, Pickwick Papers
It was a miserable cold day yesterday Tuesday and Todd had to go into town to do some business. While he was gone I decided that I would put together a bit of an English Tea to greet him when he got home.
A Tea is not all that much work to put together for the family, and it makes a nice change from the usual fare of an Winter evening's supper. It doesn't have to be anything really fancy, and just a tiny effort is involved, but I can promise you that it will delight everyone involved!
A Tea such as this must always start with a few sandwiches. Have a rummage around the refrigerator to see what you have to hand, and ready to use. You don't need to make a bazillion of them. Yesterday I made 3 sandwiches, and a couple of small finger rolls filled with egg mayonnaise.
I did cheese and pickle, some ham with honey and Dijon mustard and I had some leftover guacamole which needed using which I put together with a bit of cream cheese and some grated cheddar. They were amazingly delicious. Crusts cut off and sliced into pretty quarters, they went down a real treat.
*Finger Sandwiches*
makes 18 to 24What would afternoon tea be without a plate of tasty sandwiches? (Choose 3 of the below fillings)
12 thin slices of white or wholemeal bread, crusts removed
room temperature butter, for spreading
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired
For the egg and cress filling:
2 TBS good quality mayonnaise
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest from an unwaxed lemon
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
a handful of mustard cress
For the Gentleman's Morsels:
1/4 pound shaved roasted ham
apricot jam, seived
Dijon mustard
For the Roast Beef:
1/4 pound thinly sliced rare roast beef
horseradish mayonnaise
a handful of rocket leaves
For the Parma Ham and Fig filling:
1/4 pound of parma ham
1 ripe fig
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp olive oil
handful of rocket leaves
For the Stilton and Pear filling:
50g of Stilton cheese, thinly sliced (1/4 pound)
1 ripe firm pear
To cut sandwiches, lay your hand on top of the sandwich and lightly press down. Using a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, cut diagonally into quarters or lengthways into 3 fingers.
For the egg and cress sandwiches, thinly butter 4 slices of the bread. Combine the mayonnaise, lemon zest, egg and season with some black pepper, folding together well. Spread evenly on half the slices of bread. Sprinkle with the cress and top with the remaining 2 slices of bread. Cut as above.
To make the Gentlemen's Morsels., thinly butter 4 slices of the bread. Spread 2 slices with seived apricot jam. Spread the other 2 with Dijon mustard. Lay the ham evenly over top of 2 slices and top with the other 2. Cut as above.
For the Roast Beef, thinly butter 4 slices of the bread. Spread 2 slices with the horseradish mayonnaise. Top with the roast beef and season to taste. Sprinkle with the rocket and top with the other 2 slices of bread. Cut as above.
For the Parma Ham and Fig sandwiches, thinly butter 4 slices of bread and fold ham on top of two of them. Cut the fig into thin wedges, remove and discard the skin and then arrange the wedges on top of the ham. Whisk the vinegar and oil together. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Drizzle over the figs. Top with rocket and the remaining slices of buttered bread and cut as above.
To make the Stilton and Pear sandwiches, thinly butter 4 slices of bread. Arrange the stilton over 2 slices of the bread. Slice the pear into thin wedges, removing and discarding the core, then arrange on top of the cheese. Season with black pepper, then top with the remaining slices of bread and cut as above.
When I was boiling the eggs for the Egg Mayonnaise buns, I did a few extra so that I could make some Deviled Eggs. Todd loves Deviled Eggs.
*Perfect Deviled Eggs*
Makes 12 servings
Makes 12 servings
I had a packet of Pikelets in the cupboard, so I warmed up those to have with some butter and jam. These ones were yeasted, which are a bit different to the normal ones I make from scratch, which are more like pancakes.
Either way, they are delicious. I had some Potted Stilton with Cranberries leftover from Christmas in the refrigerator, so we had that as well, and I can tell you it went down very nicely spread on my warm pikelet! I love LOVE Stilton with cranberries.
*Pikelets*
Makes 25A drop scone or pancake by any other name. Yummy.
150g of self raising flour (1 cup + 2 TBS)
1 TBS caster sugar
pinch of salt
185ml of milk (3/4 cup)
1 large free range egg
butter to brush the grill
to serve:
softened butter
preserves
Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Beat together the milk and egg. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Heat a large griddle pan, or nonstick frying pan. Brush with butter. Drop the batter by tablespoons onto the heated griddle. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom is lightly browned. Flip over and cook on the other side until golden. Allow to cool completely and serve with some softened butter and jam for spreading.
A bit of sweet and a bit of savoury . . . it all goes down well for an afternoon tea. You don't really have to make anything special . . . if you have jam tarts in the cupboard, or some nice biscuits/cookies, they will do just fine.
I had some sausage rolls and leftover Cheese, Spring Onion and Bacon Scones from the other day. So I warmed up those. You can make both from scratch, plain scones, or fruited scones are nice. I didn't have any cream or I would have made some fruited ones fresh.
These Orange and Currant Scones are the bomb!
I had a packet of sausage rolls from M&S in the freezer so they came in really handy, but its easy to make your own as well as I have done in the past.
*Joy's Sausage Rolls*
Makes a dozen
A nice cake, family style, should be the centre of the tea table. I had baked a lovely Banana Cake that I planned on serving, but I had an accident when I went to flip it onto the cooling rack.
It happens to us all from time to time, and it ended up still being raw in the middle so what a mess! The edges were very tasty but it was no Tea Table Centrepiece. It would be great in a trifle however (the cooked bits.)
This is what it should have looked like. The recipe was adapted from a book I got recently called Fika and Hygge by Bronte Aurell. FABULOUS book!
*Swedish Banana Cake*
Makes 8 - 10 servingsI Knew then that I wouldn't have time to bake another cake from scratch, so I gave Todd a quick buzz on his mobile and asked him to bring us home a Victorian Sponge from M&S. It was actually quite good for a store bought cake. Here is my recipe for one you can bake yourself from scratch and I can tell you that it is very very good.
*Traditional Victorian Sandwich Cake*
Makes one 7 inch cake
Makes one 7 inch cake
Popular during the reign of Qyeen Victoria, this cake remains popular to this day, which is a huge testament to it's taste and ease of baking! Don't be tempted to use all butter. This is one recipe that is better for the use of a mixture of butter and margarine.
85g butter, softened (6 TBS)
85g soft margarine (6 TBS)
but your cake won't be as light in texture)
170g caster sugar (1 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 large free range eggs, beaten
170g self raising flour (a scant 1 1/2 cups)
To finish:
3 TBS raspberry jam
buttercream to fill (optional)
icing sugar or caster sugar to dust the top
Butter and base line two 7 inch sandwich tins. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Cream the butter, margarine, sugar and vanilla together until light in colour and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.
Fold in the flour with a metal spoon, taking care to use a cutting motion so as not to knock out too much of the air that you have beaten into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins, leveling off the surface. Make a slight dip in the centre of each.
Bake on a centre rack of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sponges have risen well, are golden brown, and spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool in the pan for five minutes before running a knife carefully around the edges and turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, place one layer on a cake plate. Spread with raspberry jam and buttercream (if using). Place the other cake on top, pressing down lightly. Dust with icing or caster sugar and serve.
Don't you love my tea cosy? I made it myself recently.
I found the pattern here.
Of course afternoon tea requires cups of hot tea to wash down all your sweets and savouries with. We don't do black tea ourselves, so we had ginger and lemon tea, which was also very nice.
*How To Brew The Perfect Cup of Tea*
- Use a good quality loose leaf or bagged tea
- This must be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature
- Always use freshly drawn boiling water
- In order to draw the best flavour out of the tea the water must contain oxygen, this is reduced if the water is boiled more than once.
- Measure the tea carefully
- Use 1 tea bag or 1 rounded teaspoon of loose tea for each cup to be served, plus one for the pot.
- Allow the tea to brew for the recommended time before pouring
- Brewing tea from a bag in a mug? Milk in last is best .
"Tea! Thou soft,thou sober, sage, and venerable liquid, thou female tongue-running, smile-smoothing, heart-opening, wink-tipping cordial, to whose glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moment of my life, let me fall prostrate!"
Colley Cibber, The Lady's Last Stake, 1708
And there you have it. A Winter's day mood brightener for two.
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!
All scones are not equal . . . or are they? What makes a scone a scone, or a biscuit a biscuit? Are they interchangeable?
Are they the same thing? So many questions about scones and one could debate these things for hours . . .
I contend that scones and biscuits are two completely different things, both in how you put the ingredients together and in how they taste . . . I think scones are a bit lighter in texture than biscuits . . . most are sweet, but not all . . .
As evidenced by these very delicious savoury Cheese, Spring Onion & Bacon Scones I am showing you today.
Just look at how light and puffed up these beautiful scones are. They were fabulous served for breakfast this morning with hot cocoa . . .
But I think they would also be gorgeous served with eggs, or thick slices of ham . . . .
With salads or soups for lunch . . . in a portable lunch at the office. Enjoyed in leisure at home.
As a sneaky snack to partake of when nobody is looking, spread with plenty of cold butter. And maybe a bit of pickle or even jam.
In the evenings in front of the telly with a bit of chutney . . . and softened butter for spreading.
The possibilities are endless.
A scone does not have to be sweet to be enjoyed with abandon. These lovely svoury scones could not be more enjoyable, being filled as they were, to the hilt with strong cheddar cheese, smoky salty bacon bits and sharp spring onions . . .
You can't get too much better than that in my opinion.
We really could not resist scarfing down one a piece almost as soon as they came out of the oven . . . oh boy but they were some delicious!
Steaming hot and split. A large smattering of cold butter spread onto that hot surface. Yum . . . truth be old we enjoyed more than one a piece. Some days are like that.
*Cheese, Spring Onion & Bacon Scones*
makes 10 large scones
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and cut the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball and flatten the balls slightly to an 8 inch round. Place each round on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between. Cut each round into 5 wedges and push the wedges slightly apart. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown.
The original recipe came from a book I picked up at a National Trust shop the last time we were visiting one of their gardens. It is entitled simply, "The National Trust Book of Scones," containing over 50 delicious scone recipes and some curious crumbs of history.
Good on their own . . . . but also quite tasty with a bit of jam. Don't judge me! This was actually quite tasty! Bon Appetit!
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!
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