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
One thing that North Americans find very confusing is that the British call cookies Biscuits. In North America a biscuit is well, a biscuit! A type of quick bread similar to a scone, but actually quite different. I love biscuits . . . both the North American type and the cookie type!
I'm honest if nothing else. I adore buttermilk biscuits. So moist and light . . . and these Peppered Buttermilk Biscuits are no exception. They are buttery, moist and light!
I love the sparky addition of coarse black pepper to these. You might think it would be over-powering, as there is a full teaspoon of it, but it is not overwhelming in the least. Its just perfect.
Another thing I like about this recipe is that it only makes six, which is the perfect amount for a small family like mine. There are only two of us and so small amounts are what I prefer, unless we are having company.
These are equally at home nestled next to a warm bowl of soup, a stew or along side of a tasty salad, which makes them an all year around quick bread to enjoy!
They are nice served warm, of course . . . with lashings of butter melting down into that peppery tastiness . . .
But they are equally as nice served cold, later in the day with some butter and jam. In short, these are a great all rounder!
They do differ a bit than most biscuit recipes in that they use butter and not shortening or lard. I am all for that. I love butter. And it shows. Meh . . .
Oh well . . . we all have our weaknesses and one of mine is butter . . . and biscuits . . . and chocolate . . . and fried chicken . . . ice cream . . . pie . . . I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
I just plain love to eat. Guilty as charged!
*Peppered Buttermilk Biscuits*
Makes 6
To Glaze:
1 egg, beaten with
1/2 tsp salt
I was going to try to bake bread today, but it got so hot and humid and sticky I gave up on that idea, so I baked biscuits instead. That's another thing biscuits are good for. They are a quick to make alternative to a loaf of bread. Quick, easy, and satisfying. Bon Appetit!
I wanted to bake Todd a treat today and I had spied this recipe in a baking book of mine which I have had for a very long time, entitled, "Cakes" by Gina Speer. Its a really good book. Nothing I have ever baked from it has been a dud. Its a rare book that you can say that about!
Its filled with lots of recipes for everything from biscuits (cookies) to scones, to muffins, cakes, and a whole lot more. I am a naughty puppy in that I turn the corners over on pages in my cookbooks if I find a recipe that I want to try out at some point . . . and this book has a corner turned on almost every page.
I was thinking they would be like a cookie . . . despite the fact that the recipe was in section entitled "Buns and Bite Sized Cakes." The picture was what drew me . . . they looked like nice puffy jam cookies.
The dough was quite a stiff dough, but I used my hands and it came together beautifully. I shaped it into a log and then divided it into twelve equal bits, which I then rolled into balls as per recipe instructions. After that you make an indentation in them and drop in a bit of jam. She recommended seedless raspberry, but all I had was seeded raspberry. Not a problem. They were not the most beautiful cakes in the world however . . .
But as women, we all know that a little bit of lippy (or a dusting of icing sugar in this case) always lights up even the dullest composure!
These are very good, and more than a bit wholesome, with the use of both plain and wholemeal (wholewheat) flours. The wholemeal flour gives them an almost nutty flavour . . .
There are also dried cranberries in the mix . . . I chopped them to make them a bit smaller and more evenly distributed throughout. Worked beautifully.
They have a buttery, almost pastry like texture . . . like a cross between a biscuit and a scone . . .
That touch of jam is perfect on these . . . I could not resist eating one while they were still warm . . . with some cold milk, but I think they would go equally as well with a hot cuppa of whatever you like to drink. These were not a cookie, but nobody was disappointed.
*Jammy Buns*
Makes 12 
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a large baking sheet and set aside. (Alternately, line with baking paper.)
Sift both flours into a bowl along with the baking powder. Tip any grains remaining in the seive into the bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Cut the butter into pieces and drop into the flour mixture. Rub in with your fingertips until you have a mixture resembling coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar and cranberries. Stir in the beaten egg and milk to make a stiff dough. (Get in there with your hands. You might think its not going to happen, but it does.) Divide into 12 equal bits and roll each bit into a ball.
Place the balls, leaving plenty of space in between for expansion. Press your thumb down into the centre of each to make a hole. Drop a llittle jam into each. (Don't be tempted to overfill as the jam will spill out if you do.)
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool.
If desired, dust with some icing sugar to serve.
You know, when these first came out of the oven I thought . . . ugh . . .ugly buns, but with a dusting of icing sugar they perked right up and the flavour was actually really nice. These have turned into another favourite in our home. I hope you'll give them a try. I guarantee you won't be sorry if you do! Bon Appetit!
I am feeling a tiny bit under the weather today so I hope that you don't mind a repost from about 2 1/2 years ago now. Nobody minds an impromptu tea party do they?
I thought not . . . so here we go. And then we had tea . . .
These cold dismal and dreary January days can get one a bit down after a while. Day after day of drizzle or snow . . . very little sun . . . blah, blah, blah.
Here's one way to perk them up and bring a bit of sunshine into your life! Have a tea party! You don't need anything special . . . or even to invite a whole bunch of people over. Some of the best tea parties of all happen when there's just two of you and a dog!
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.
The perfect afternoon tea should begin with some delicious savouries . . . finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, little toasts, savoury pastries . . . followed with scones (if you wish) and a selection of fancies and cakes.
I decided early on during this particularly dreary day that I was going to treat Todd and I to a traditional English Afternoon tea party. He had no idea what I was up to, as he sat upstairs engrossed in his war games on the computer.
Things don't always go to plan though . . . do they. The dog mischeviously ate half of my first Victoria Sponge when my back was turned. Bad doggie. I seized the engine on my new baby sized food processor, chopping the glace fruit for the florentines. Bad idea. Chop it by hand.
Never mind we got there in the end and Todd was so surprised when I called him down to lunch and he saw what I had been up to.
We sat there smiling and sipping and nibbling . . . all was right with the world, drizzle or not, dog eaten cakes . . . it was fun, plain and simple.
Don't forget to use your pinkies!
*Finger Sandwiches*
makes 18 to 24
Printable Recipe
What 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
(I just buy the bread that already has the crusts removed,
easy peasy, lemon squeasy)
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.
*Dark and White Chocolate Florentines*
Makes about 24
Printable Recipe
Sticky, crisp, chewy, gooey. Moreishly addictive.
50g of butter (3 1/2 TBS)
50g of caster sugar (2 TBS)
3 TBS double cream
25g of flaked almonds (1/4 cup)
75g of mixed nuts, chopped (Pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.) 3/4 cup
4 glace cherries, chopped
50g of mixed glace fruits (apricots, pineapple, peel, angelica) chopped (1/3 cup)
25g of plain flour (1 heaped TBS)
50g of white chocolate
(2 ounces)
50g of dark chocolate
(2 ounces)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ Gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Gently heat the butter, sugar and cream together until the butter melts. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Stir in the nuts, cherries, fruit and flour. Mix thoroughly. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them well apart.
Bake for 10 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and gently press back the edges with a rounded knife to keep a round shape. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before carefully peeling off the paper and setting on a wire rack to cool completely.
Break the white and dark chocolates into individual bowls. Melt carefully in the microwave without over-heating. (Be careful as white chocolate burns easily.) Alternatively melt in bowls over simmering water. Spread over the bottoms of the florentines, coating half with white and half with dark. Let set before serving.
Ohhh . . . doesn't she have a longing and innocent look on her face? I think half a cake is more than enough don't you?
Maritime Biscuits. These delicious quick breads are not cookies. The British are very fond of calling their cookies biscuits. These delicious quick breads are not scones.
These delicious quick breads are biscuits in every sense of the North American definition of Biscuit. They are a quick bread, meant to be enjoyed as a savoury part/side dish of a meal.
But they are also quite different even when you are talking about North American Biscuits, because these biscuits contain yeast. Not just soda and or baking powder.
These particular biscuits are very particular to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Those beautiful provinces anchored on the East Coast of my beautiful homeland, consisting of four provinces.
Newfoundland, an Island where my parents got married, also loving know as "The Rock." Nova Scotia, where I say I am from. A peninsula anchored by the Isthmus of Chebucto to mainland Canada.
New Brunwswick, the part of Canada tha Nova Scotia is anchored to, and Prince Edward Island. Island of my birth and home to Lucy Maude Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables.
That is the Maritimes in a nutshell and what I consider to be my home. No matter how far away from them I travel, or how long I am away, I consider myself a Maritimer at heart.
These Biscuits may be known by a variety of names. Angel Biscuits is one. French Biscuits is another.
My ex In-Laws lived on Prince Edward Island and we spent several weeks there in the summer months. The community they lived in, Saint Eleanors, at that time was largely populated with retired Military folk.
My FIL had been a cook in the airforce. Both he and my MIL had been born and bred on the Island so it was quite natural for them to want to return there upon retirement, to spend their golden years.
There was an old guy and his wife that lived directly across from them. The Kenny's, also an armforced retiree couple. They had Acadia ancestry, or at least Mrs. Kenny did.
Every summer when we arrived we could almost rely that within the first 24 hours Mrs Kenny would be sending over a bag of freshly baked French Biscuits as she called them, or Maritime Biscuits as is their proper name.
We
were always thrilled to get them and most grateful. I used to visit
Mrs Kenny a couple of times during our visit to the Island. She was a
very short and stout woman with silver hair, a great sense of humour
and a heart of gold.
Mr Kenny was also kind and quite a character! One summer my children had picked strawberries and my FIL had sent them up at a small table at the end of the driveway so they could earn a bit of spending money selling them to the neighbours.
Mr Kenny bought several boxes of them and them gave them back to the children so they could sell them all over again. That was just his way. Kind, kind . . .
Skunks used to be a huge problem on the Island. They probably still are. I remember one year Mr Kenny had made a skunk trap for his front yard, with every intention of putting waste to whatever skunk he captured.
It became somewhat of a joke amongst the male retirees, this skunk trap. Every morning Mr Kenny would inspect his trap and come up empty.
So one night the other retired fellows decided they would stick a stuffed teddy bear in the trap to get a rise out of him. Sure enough, next morning with all of the excitement he could muster, Mr Kenny put laid waste to . . . the teddy bear.
Filled that teddy bear full of buckshot he did. It was the talk of the neighborhood for years and years. Oh but they didn't all get half get bit of a rise out of that one! I don't think he was ever able to live it down. He was destined to be Claude, teddy bear killer for year and years. Good times!
One day I came across this recipe in a community cookbook for Maritime Biscuits. They sounded like to be exactly the same as the ones Mrs Kenny made.
I had to write the recipe down. It went into my Big Blue Binder, like all the good recipes do. And I have been enjoying them ever since.
They have a beautiful flaky texture, like any good biscuit, and a nice rise. But they rise a bit like a dinner roll would.
Not precisely up, and somewhat out. They are lovely and light as air. As light as an angel's wings some might say!
The dough can be somewhat sticky. Try hard not to knead too much flour back into them when you are patting them out ready to cut. Just be generous with the flour on the bottom and somewhat generous with the flour on top.
I dip my cutter into flour with every biscuit I cut so that it doesn't stick. I use a 3 inch round sharp cutter,straight edged.
Like any biscuit, do not twist them as you are cutting them. A strong, straight up and down cut will do the trick. You will need a spatula to lift them onto the baking sheet.
Do leave plenty of space between them for them to spread and rise. Unless you are not bothered by soft sided biscuits. We like our sides crisp, like our bacon.
If there is one downside to these biscuits it would have to be that they really are best eaten on the day. It is the same with any bread that contains yeast.
You can however, nicely refresh them the next day in a slow oven. You can also freeze them, properly wrapped for several months if need be.
These are wonderful served warm, not long out of the oven. Lovely with cold butter and preserves, or even peanut butter.
They are fantastic served with soups or salads. They are also fantastic served with thick stews that have plenty of gravy to be mopped up. These biscuits are perfect at mopping up.
To be honest, I enjoy them with anything and everything. Yes, I am a carboholic. Through and through.
Don't be tempted to use butter in place of the shortening. I have never seen or tasted these made with anything else, except perhaps lard, which is what they would have used in the early pioneer days.
They would have also enjoyed them spread with butter and drizzled with sticky sweet molasses. Back home in the Maritimes the molasses jug holds pride of place on the dinner table.
Every meal, every day, every week of the year. Its just the way we're made.
Maritime Biscuits
Yield: 12 Large Biscuits (3-inch)
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 20 Mininactive time: 10 Mintotal time: 45 Min
These lovely light puffs of air are a cross between a dinner roll and a baking powder biscuit! Delicious!
Ingredients:
For the yeast sponge:
- 1/4 cup (60ml) warm water
- 1 TBS sugar
- 1 TBS regular yeast
For the Biscuits:
- 2 1/2 cups flour (350g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 TBS sugar
- 1/2 tsp soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (110g) vegetable shortening
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- Mix the sugar, warm water and yeast together in a cup and leave to dissolve until foamy and double in size.
- Warm the buttermilk slightly to lukewarm.
- Sift the flour into a bowl along with the soda and baking powder. Stir in the salt and sugar. Drop in the shortening and cut it in using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, with some larger bits and more smaller bits.
- Add the yeast mixture to the warm buttermilk and then add this all at once to the flour mixture. Mix well and turn out onto a generously floured board. Knead lightly for a couple of turns. Pat out to a round about 1 inch in thickness.
- Using a sharp 3 inch cutter, stamp out rounds and place them well spaced apart on the baking sheets. Re pat and cut the scraps until you have used all the dough, again placing them well spaced on the baking sheets.
- Leave to rise for about 10 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minute to 20 minutes until golden brown on tops and bottoms and well risen. Lift off to cool on a wire cooling rack.
- Delicious served warm with cold butter and honey or jam.
Look at that lovely texture. A true cross between a biscuit and a bread. Beautiful.
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons