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Peach & Vanilla Scones

Yield: 10 scones

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 15 Mincook time: 20 Mintotal time: 35 Min

If you need to you can also use drained tinned peaches in the place of fresh ones. Just dry them really well with paper kitchen towelling before chopping. These are delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups (500g) all purpose/plain flour (3 1/2 cups)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar 
• 1/2 cup (125g) butter, cubed 
• 3 small fresh peaches, chopped coarsely
• 1 tsp poppyseeds
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 medium free range egg, beaten
• 7 TBS (100ml) whole milk (7 TBS)
• Cream to brush on the tops
• demerara sugar to sprinkle on the tops

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl along with the sugar and baking powder.
3. Drop in the butter and rub it in with your fingertips, using a snapping motion, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the chopped peaches and the poppyseeds.
4. Whisk together the vanilla, egg and milk. Add to the dry mixture to make a soft dough.
5. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Pat out about 1 1/2 inch thick.
6. Stamp out into rounds with a very sharp 3 inch round cutter. Place onto the baking sheet.
7. Push any trimmings together and re-pat out to stamp out more rounds if necessary and also place on the baking sheet.
8. Brush tops lightly with cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
10. Serve slightly warm with clotted or whipped cream and apricot jam. Fabulous!

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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! 

Lemon & Sugar Scones. These delicious scones comr from a recipe I adapted from one I found in an old issue of Delicious magazine.  From the moment I saw it, I knew it was something I wanted to bake. 

What you have here is a fairly ordinary buttermilk scone recipe. The difference is they have lemon soaked sugar cubes pushed into their middles, like a sweet belly button. This creates a delicious lemon flavoured gooey centre!

I have shared this recipe in the past.  My photos were so appalling I thought I would like to redo them and redo the photos. Especially now when I have such cute dishes to use.

I got these from Scandanavian Pantry. And no, I was not given them. I fell in love with them and have been collecting them one or two at a time! I only have one or two of each. It would be a dream come true to have a full collection, but Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will my collection be!

What you have here is a fairly simple scone recipe.  Scones are quite different than biscuits. We have had that discussion before. They use butter and North American Biscuits usually use shortening, lard or a combination of those and butter. 

In scones the fat is rubbed into the dough with your fingertips as opposed to being cut in with a pastry blender. You can also use a food processor to do this if you wish. The fat should be distributed through the flour in such a way as you have a fine sand texture as opposed to pebbles.

The number one mistake that people make when they are making scones (or biscuits for that matter) is by handling the dough too much.  A light touch is the key to perfect results! 

Also people have a tendancy to twist cutters when they are cutting out scones/biscuits. You must never do that.  A sharp tap, straight up and down is what you need to do.

When you twist a cutter, you seal the edges of the dough. This prevents them from rising as tall as they would have done had you not twisted.  Top tip here! 

So if you always measure precisely, always use a light hand, and cut without twisting you will always have beautiful results.  Also I try to get as many cuts as I can from the first patting/rolling out.

Every time you have to gather in the scraps and repat, you increase the possibility of a tough scone. Also their appearance will not be as attractive as the first cuts.

They will still taste good however, so no worries on that score.  Just pat them out and then cut your rounds as closely together as possible. If you do that you should not have many repat and cuts to do.  Today I only had two.

These scones have plenty of lemon flavour.  Part of that comes from the use of freshly grated lemon zest in the scone dough itself. 

I always use unwaxed lemons. I don't want to be eating wax and unwaxed lemons are readily available these days. If you don't have them you can use regular lemons. Just rinse them well under cold running water and dry them with a clean cloth.

The wax is only  very thin coating and will come off easily.  Citrus fruits produce their own wax naturally, but after picking and washing this usually disappears.  A thin coating of wax is usually applied to help keep them fresh and presentable.

I always wash my lemons anyways. You will often see tiny black specks all over them.  This is bug dirt.   I don't want to be eating that either!

When you go to soak and push the sugar cube into the centre of these do not soak the cubes for very long.  Only a few seconds will do. Just a quick in and then out.  They will dissolve completely if you leave them in the lemon juice too long! 

These scones are delicious all on their own. I am not going to kid you. I could eat them happily just as is, but if you split them and then fill them with some cream and some jam, you tip them over the top into the area of being totally gorgeously, addictively moreish!

There is much debate in this country about what you put on a scone first.  The cream or the jam. It can be a somewhat regional thing.  I would not be surprised to find out that there had been fueds about this very matter of discussion in the past.

I am from the jam first group.  My reasoning is simple. It is much easier to dollop some cream on top of jam than it is to spread jam on top of cream.

For me it is as simple a decision as that and it makes perfect sense. You can do it however you wish. 

I like strawberry jam. Some people think it must be raspberry. Just use whatever jam is your favourite to use. Lemon or orange curd would also be very nice here.

Ideally clotted cream would be my preference, but I did not have any of that today.  Clotted Cream is a vry British thing and it is said that the best clotted cream comes from Cornwall and Devon because of their cows and pastureland.  It is very hard to replicate at home.

It is created by heating full-fat unprocessed milk indirectly by using a steam or water-bath and then leaving it to cool in shallow pans slowly.  The cream rises to the top and forms "clots" or "clouts." Conditions, temperatures, milk etc. have to be just right.

Today I made do with softly whipped double cream, and Bonne Maman Strawberry preserves. It was deliciously perfect.

I think you might agree. Or at least I hope you will. I am sure if you bake these you will love them as much as we do!

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Lemon & Sugar Scones

Yield: Makes 15

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 10 Mincook time: 15 Mintotal time: 25 Min

These are delicious! For soft sided scones place them closer together on the baking sheet. For crisp sided ones place them on the baking sheet with some space in between each.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups (400g) self raising flour
• 1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar (fine granulated sugar)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 1/3 cups (310ml) buttermilk
• the finely grated zest of two unwaxed lemons
• the juice of one lemon
• 15 sugar cubes
• buttermilk to glaze

To serve:

• Whipped or clotted cream
• fruit jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 230*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Set aside.
2. Measure the flour into a bowl. Whisk in the sugar and salt. Drop in the butter. Rub the butter in with your fingertip until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest. Add most of the buttermilk, stirring it in with a round bladed knife. Only add the remaining buttermilk to give you a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently 2 or 3 times. Pat or roll out to 1 inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2 inch rounds using a sharp round cutter and using a sharp tapping up and down motion. Do not twist the cutter and flour the cutter in between cuts. Place the scones onto the baking sheet as desired. Gather the trimmings and re-pat and cut until you have used up all the dough, and placing them on the baking sheet.
3. Place the lemon juice into a bowl. Working with one sugar cube at a time dip them into the lemon juice, turning to coat, and then push them down into the centre of each scone. Once you have finished this, brush the scones with a bit more buttermilk.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until they are risen and golden brown. Serve warm or cold, on the day, with some cream and jam. Delicious!

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.

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Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #EnglishKitchen

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These are incredibly moreish and so simple to make. Every time I make them I find myself wondering why I don't make them more often and then I remember . . . its because I can't eat just one! I am so, so, so naughty!

 

Sigh . . . the sun did not shine . . . it was too wet to play . . . so we stayed in the house . . . all that cold, cold . . . wet day . . .  (Thank you Dr Seuss!) 

The perfect day to bake scones. An English scone recipe is  the epitome of the perfect scone recipe.  There are many other scone recipes that are just as tasty however, and these wonerful scones are what I consider to be one of my best, if not the best scone recipe I have in my portfolio.

 

Boy, oh boy, have we ever had a wet week!  I think it's probably safe to say that drought conditions will soon be lifted in this country . . . we've had more rain in this past week than we had all winter!  

This is the kind of weather than can get you down if you let it . . . really and truly.

 

The grass is really green though!  And the roses are blooming profusely. You have never seen roses til you hav seen an English Rose. 

 Tis something you can really appreciate and admire  from  the comfort of a dry and warm armchair . . . through the window. With a hot cuppa in one hand and a tasty scrummy scone in the other.

 

Yep . . . nothing tastes better on a rainy day.  Well, that's my opinion anyways! 

I adore scones.  Any day really. Dry. Wet and inbetween.  They are just one of those things that get my tastebuds to tingling overtime!

 

You all know how much I love blueberries . . . they are one of my favourite things, hands down!  Mmmm . .. des bluets . . . c'est le monde de mon coeur.  C'est magnfique!!  C'est si si si bon!!  Bien sur . . .




Today I decided to switch out my favourite Strawberry and Mint Scones . . . and change them to  Spiced Blueberry Scones . . . coz . . . one, I love these scones . . . and two, I love blueberries. 

You may want to check out the strawberry version of these as well. They are tres magnifique! And I don't say that lightly.



But for now blueberry and here they are! Ta da!!  

Beautifully buttery and short, with just the faintest hint of spice . . . cardamom and cinnamon . . . and topped with sweet wild blueberry preserves . . .then baked until crisp and brown on the edges.

I like to use Bonne Maman preserves. They are my favourite and have the best flavour as well as having a high ratio of fruit in them. I hate jam that is all sauce and no fruit.



Once cooled, these scrumptious babies are then drizzled with a lightly spiced lemon drizzle icing.

These always, ALWAYS turn out fabulously delicious!  Moreishly Scrummy!!!  Nom Nom Nummy!!!!

 

I bet YOU can't eat just one. If you can, you are a much better person than I am. 

I find it impossible to stop at one, but then again  . . .  it is like that with most things.  I am so naughty. These also freeze well without glazing, just so you know!

Makes 14
Printable Recipe

Crisp on the outsides, soft and buttery on the insides and scrummily moreishly good. 'Nuff said.

280g of plain flour (2 cups) plus more for dusting
95g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 TBS unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
240ml of double cream (1 cup heavy cream)
wild blueberry preserves (I like Bon Maman)

For the drizzle:
130g of icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
pinch ground cardamom
1 TBS lemon juice
hot water as needed

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Line two baking sheets with baking parchment paper.  Set aside.

Sift the flour into the bowl of a  food processor.  Add the sugar, baking powder and salt.  Blitz a couple of seconds to mix.  Drop in the butter cubes.  Blitz until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Transfer to a medium sized bowl.  Stir in the cream with a fork, mixing it in until the mixture forms a soft dough.  Knead several times to bring it all together.  Lightly dust the countertop.  Tip out the dough.  Pat out to a large circle (about 10 inches in diameter) and 1/2 inch thick.  Cut out with a sharp 3 inch round fluted cutter.  Place onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving soem space in between each for spreading.  Reroll any scraps and repeat until you have used up all the dough.

Gently make an indentation in the centure of each with your thumb.  Spoon about half a teaspoonful of blueberry preserves into the centre of each.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden brown and they are dry and golden brown on the bottoms.  Remove from the oven and let stand for about five minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl together with the ground cardamom.  Whisk in the lemon juice and enough water to give you a smooth and drizzable consistency.  Drizzle this icing across the cooled scones.    Let set for 30 minutes before serving or storing.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. 

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!