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
I could hardly wait to share this lovely 8 X 8 snack cake recipe with you today! Especially now with it almost being time for school to start up again. I don't know about your family, but my children were always starving when they got home from school at the end of the day.
I raised five children and I tried always to have something delicious to share with them when they got home from school. It was an opportunity for us to gather around the kitchen table and catch up with what had gone on in their day at school.
I tried always to keep the lines of communication open with my children and this was one very important way I did just that. There is nothing so comforting or homey as breaking bread together around a table.
Not only did this give us a chance to talk with each other, but it also gave them something to look forward to at the end of their school day.
Of course we did that at supper time as well, but that was a bit more formal and a bit later in the day. This after school snack time was much more casual. I would usually have baked cookies or a snack cake for them to enjoy.
With five children, three of them boys with hollow legs, nothing was around long enough to go stale, which was just how I loved it. All I ever wanted to be was a mother and a wife, a homemaker, and keeper of the home.
I spied these lovely fresh local cherries at the farm market when I was there last week with my sister. I adore cherries. I had in mind to make this Cherry, Coconut & Almond Snack Cake!
When I lived in the UK and was living and working down in Kent, we used to have cherry sellers come over from the South of France every year. They would set up stands in the layby's and you could buy 1/2 pound paper bags of freshly picked cherries from them.
They were so delicious. Sweet and ripe and warm from the sun. I always had to buy two bags of them because for sure I would have eaten one bag before we even got back to our cottage.
I think it is fair to say I love adore cherries! In any way shape or form!
Beautiful eaten fresh and out of hand. Fabulous in pies, tarts and turnovers. Splendid in desserts such as Clafloutis or Trifle.
Stupendous in cakes. Especially in this cake I am sharing with you today!
One thing I can tell you is that Cherries and Almonds have a beautiful affinity for each other. That is the basis for the infamously delicious Bakewell Tart. You can find my recipe for that here.
I also love to use that delicious combination of cherries and almonds in things such as my Small-batch Bakewell Blondies, and these fantastic Bakewell Slices.
Bakewell Tart Muffins are another favorite, as are my Bakewell Scones, and Steamed Cherry Bakewell Pudding. And these few recipes are only the tip of the Bakewell iceberg on my blog.
I am well versed in this delicious combination of cherries and almonds and am not afraid to share my obsession with others. This quick and easy cake is a delicious play on that delicious flavor combination!
There are also a few other delicious flavors added in this cake. First you have a fabulous batter, made with a combination of both flour and almond flour/ground almonds. A quantity of coconut is stirred into the batter along with the use of coconut or canola oil.
Flavored with vanilla and coconut extract (the coconut extract is optional) it has a lovely dense texture. The use of buttermilk helps to ensure that is is beautifully moist.
A quantity of halved fresh cherries is sprinkled over the top of the cake. They do sink down a bit, but I fear if you stirred them into the cake they would all sink to the bottom, so sprinkling them on top is the best way to go.
Flaked almonds are sprinkled over the top of the cherries . . .
And then even more coconut is sprinkled on top of the flaked almonds. So you have double coconut and almond here! Lush and nutty.
A final sprinkle of sugar dusts the top and then the cake is baked. The sugar gives a tiny bit of sweet crunch to the top of the cake.
The original recipe comes from a book of mine entitled Snacking Cakes, Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings, by Yossy Arefi. I have it on my kindle.
This is the second recipe I have baked from the book to great success and I think I may just have to buy myself the hard copy. Yes, it is that good of a book. Both recipes I have baked have been deliciously sound.
Just look at how lovely the texture of this cake is. Perfect for cutting into squares for eating.
I dare say this is going to become a fast and firm favorite around here. I gave half of it to my sister when she dropped off some mail for me this afternoon.
I think it is a great snack cake, but it would also make a fabulous dessert served with a dollop of whipped cream spooned on top, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I am so very pleased with how it turned out. This is a winner and is going into my retinue of tried and true favorites!
I am so pleased with it I am sure it is bound to become a favorite with you as well. I find myself pondering what it would be like if I switched out the flavors a bit with blueberries and lemon. Food for thought there.
In any case, I do hope that you will be inspired enough to make this. You won't be sorry. You can use fresh or frozen cherries. Its a keeper for sure!!!
Cherry, Coconut & Almond Snack Cake
Yield: Makes one 8-inch square cake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 55 Min
Nutty, sweet, buttery, and delicious with plenty of cherries, coconut and flaked almonds.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (150g) plus 1 ½ tsp granulated sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, well shaken
- ½ cup (120ml) canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp coconut extract (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- ½ cup (55g) almond flour/ground almonds
- ½ cup (40g) plus 1 TBS unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup (140g) halved and pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
- 2 TBS sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan and line with baking paper leaving an overhang to lift the baked cake out with.
- Whisk ¾ cup (150g) of the sugar and eggs together in a bowl until pale and light. Add the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, coconut extract (if using) and salt. Whisk well to emulsify.
- Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to the batter along with the almond flour, and the ½ cup (40g) of coconut. Whisk together until everything is well combined. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
- Scatter the halved cherries on top evenly. Sprinkle with the 1 TBS of coconut and the sliced almonds, along with the remaining 1 ½ tsp sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until risen, puffed and golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack before lifting out to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.
Everything Bagel Drop Scones. I confess I am a bit late to the Everything Bagel Craze. Apparently it is all about the seasoning and it isn't something which I had really experienced over in the UK.
I did buy myself a bottle of Trader Joes Everything Bagel Seasoning online (at a premium price) while I was still over there, but I never did have a chance to use it. I had thought that all of my spices were packed to come here to Canada, but in all truth very few arrived. I don't know what happened to them.
And so I have had to start again from scratch for the most part. Not cheap I can tell you! Most bottles of herbs and spices cost around $8 and not everything is available. I am really missing out on middle Eastern and Indian spices.
Oh well. I was able to budge together my own mix of Everything Bagel Seasoning which is what I have used here today to make/enhance these lovely drop scones.
If there is anything I love more than a simple scone, its a drop scone! So much easier. No faffing about.
Quick to make, you simply stir all of the ingredients together and drop them onto a baking sheet. SO, maybe it is a little bit more than stir, but not much I can assure you!
And not only that but this is a slow batch recipe, making only half a dozen scones. Perfect for the smaller family or for when you are wanting a bread on the side with your lunch or dinner, but not wanting leftovers!
These Everything Bagel Drop Scones have crunchy flavor-filled outsides and soft fluffy, flaky insides. I would consider them to be the perfect savory scone!
You begin by making the seasoning. Of course if you have ready made seasoning you can skip this step. I wanted to make some to satisfy those who don't have it or who are not able to readily find it in their shops (UK).
It probably doesn't have quite everything in it that you would find in a readymade version, but it is close enough and I think it is delicious.
Its garlicky, oniony, crunchy and just salty enough. What more could you ask for! Its pretty tasty stuff!!
Once you have that made you can get busy with making the scones. Sift all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. Flour, baking powder and salt.
Two kinds of fat are used. Butter and cream cheese. Flaky and soft inside, the cream cheese adds another element of texture, an almost creamy texture which is difficult to describe.
But trust me when I say it is incredibly moreish. You just drop those two fats into the flour and rub them in with your fingertips.
Use a snapping motion and kind of lift the flour as you go. This gets even more air into it, giving you extra flakiness and a lovely rise.
You only want to rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, with some bits being smaller than others.
This means you will get lovely pockets of flakiness when these bake. You are almost done.
All you have to do now is to stir in some buttermilk. That's right. Just stir in some buttermilk. You can also use regular milk, but I like to use buttermilk.
Some days you will need more than others. I am not sure why that is. You are aiming for a somewhat claggy, thick and droppable mixture.
Drop this into six, evenly sized (or as evenly as you can) clumps on your baking sheet. Leave plenty of space in between for rising, spreading. I try to budge them up a bit so that they are rounder.
But let me tell you, little extra bits that stick out get moreishly crunchy. Just so you know.
Once you have done that all you have to do is to mix together your seed mixture and sprinkle it over top. Be generous. You may not need to use it all, but do be generous.
You can save any extra and store it tightly covered in the cupboard for the next time. Or better yet, double or triple the amounts and you have enough to last you for a goodly amount of time.
That's it! Bake them in a nice hot oven until they are golden brown. One advantage of drop scones is you don't need to pat and roll.
Another advantage is you end up with all these extra crispy bits that everyone enjoys eating. Trust me when I tell you these are going to be enjoyed!
On the side of soups or stews. With cold plates or salads.
As a part of a Ploughman's Lunch along with some cold meats, cheeses, salad and pickles. Today I enjoyed one with one of those cheese snack packs you can get which includes dried cranberries and cashew nuts. Perfect!
They are good all on their own, simply split and buttered. Doesn't that look good?
Because they have cream cheese in them they are flaky, maybe not as flaky as a regular bake, but flaky enough. I can't quite describe the texture actually, but when you bake them you will see what I mean.
I adapted the recipe from one I found in Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman. Her measurements were a bit off, the metric ones, but no problem I have sorted them out properly.
If you are looing for a quick, easy and delicious side bread, look no further. These fit the bill on all counts.
I reckon they would be delicious divided into four rather than six and baked a bit longer to use as breakfast biscuits with some egg, bacon and cheese in side. Oh baby, come to mama!
Everything Bagel Drop Scones
Yield: Makes 6 scones
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 12 MinTotal time: 22 Min
Nothing could be simpler or more delicious than these easy drop scones. Sprinkled with everything bagel spice they go really well with cold plates, soups, salads, cheeses, etc.
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1 TBS sesame seeds
- 1 TBS poppy seeds
- 1/2 TBS dried minced onion
- 1 tsp dried minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
For the scones:
- 1 1/4 cups (210g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 TBS cold butter, cut into cubes
- 2 ounces (65g) cold cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup (120ml) cold buttermilk (May need more)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450*F/225*C/gas mark 7. Line a large baking sheet with some baking parchment or a silicone liner.
- Mix together all of the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Drop in the butter and cream cheese. Rub them into the flour mixture using your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk, stirring everything together just until combined and the mixture starts to clump together. It should be damp and not dry. If you think it is too dry, add a bit more milk.
- Divide the mixture into six and drop onto the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between. You can budge them into a rounder shape if you wish. Sprinkle the seed mixture evenly over top, dividing it between the scones.
- Bake for 12 minutes, until golden brown on top and the bottoms are golden brown. Scoop off onto a metal rack to cool.
- Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Best on the day but can be frozen.
Cherry and Vanilla Scones. These are not cherry scones. These are not vanilla scones. These are Cherry and Vanilla Scones and they are completely different from my other Cherry Vanilla Scone recipe.
That one uses dried sour cherries and is lovely in its own tasty right, sporting a sweet vanilla glaze.
This easy recipe uses candied cherries, or glace cherries as they are also known. Feel free to use maraschino cherries if you cannot find the glace cherries. Just make sure you rinse them well and then dry them before using them in the recipe.
Otherwise they will tint your scone dough pink.
The recipe for these scones was adapted from one I found in a little National Trust book entitled The National Trust Book of Scones.
I love National Trust recipes and their books. They are filled with lots of little antidotes and many are actually recipes which are used in the tea rooms at their various properties which are dotted all over the country.
We always belonged to the National Trust when I was in the UK. They are a trust for the preservation of historic properties, gardens and farms all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
I have always loved visiting their historic properties. Not only are they areas of great beauty, but they are always fascinating and quite informative, historically speaking. I do believe that the Prince of Wales is a Patron.
Beatrix Potter bought up huge scathes of land and properties in the Lake District in an effort to prevent developers from taking over the area and destroying its natural beauty, which was then turned over to the Trust upon her passing.
The Trust is a worthy association which has done a lot to preserve the history and beauty of the UK. They are mainly supported by people visiting these properties and by people who donate to and support the organization. I worry about how it may have fared during Covid.
I hope that it will come out alright in the end.
I wish they had properties such as those here in Canada. I am a real history buff and I love visiting places like this. This is one thing I have in common with Susan Branch.
Anyways, if you ever have the chance to visit the UK, so go to as many National Trust Properties as you can. You won't regret it. You can buy a membership for the time that you are there and it will allow you to into as many places as you wish to for that given year. Well worth the price.
Most of their properties have shops and tearooms/restaurants/cafe's attached where you can go and sit down and have a lunch or a drink and a piece of cake or whatnot. Their treats on offer usually reflect the property where the teashop is located.
All of their food is great. We never visited one without having a drink and a piece of cake or a scone.
As I said, this scone recipe comes from one of their books and I would classify it as an every day type of scone. There are no eggs and cream in it.
Just simple ingredients. Self raising flour, butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. Oh, and those candied glace cherries.
True confession here. I did run out of red cherries today and had to resort to using a few green ones. I could have left them out altogether, but I did want to be able to taste the results from having used the full amount.
It is a generous amount of glace cherries to be honest, which is just lovely. That means they are generously studded throughout with bits of sweet cherry.
I know that it might be difficult for some of you to get glace cherries. You can use maraschino cherries in a pinch, but do beware that they are a bit flimsier than glace cherries.
You will need to rinse them well, and dry them really well, and then be gentle in your handling of them. I always rinse and dry my glace cherries as well.
These are not quite as rich as scones made with cream and butter, but they are still really lovely. Light and crumbly and sturdy enough to spread with cold butter without tearing or breaking apart.
You can enjoy them warm of course, but the wonderful thing about scones is they are equally as delicious to enjoy cold as they are warm.
The same basic principles apply when making scones as when making biscuits. You will always need to use a gentle hand in order to keep them from being tough.
You also need to get as many cuts as you can from the first patting out as subsequent cuts will not be as perfect looking once baked as the first cuts will.
Also for straight sided scones, take care not to twist your cutter when cutting them out. Twisting the cutter seals the edges which prevents your scones from rising properly.
You will get a much higher rise if you stamp them out with a straight up and down motion. Also the re-pats and cuts will not be as tender, because once again . . . they are a fussy bread which benefits from the least amount of attention as possible.
I know my scones and have shared quite a few different recipes on here over the years for a variety of both savory and sweet scones.
Some of my favorites are: Honey and Date Scones (flavored with honey and studded with plenty of bits of dates), Cheese, Spring Onion and Bacon (studded with cheese, chopped spring onions and crispy bits of bacon. Great with soups or salads), Nan's Sugar Scones (a lemon soaked sugar cube is inserted in the center prior to baking, resulting in an almost lemon curd like filling), Irish Coffee Cake Scones (studded with dried currants and topped with a crunchy streusel topping), Three Ingredient Cheese Scones (yes, only three ingredients. Nice and cheesy.)
My favorite all time Classic Fruited Scones (the kind you will find on offer at most establishments and tearooms in the UK), these are scone perfection. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. If you click here you will get a list of all my scone recipes.
So you can see, I really love scones, and I was very pleased with the way these turned out. Warm or cold, with butter or without.
With or without jam or honey, even just on their own, these are quite simply really nice scones. I was very pleased with the outcome and I think you will be too! Enjoy!
Cherry & Vanilla Scones
Yield: Makes 10 (3-inch) scones
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 33 Min
Simple to make, studded with cherries and flavored with vanilla.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups + 2 TBS (500g) self-raising flour
- 1/3 cup (40g) finely granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cubed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120ml (1/2 cup) whole milk (may need more)
- 1 3/4 cup (200g) glace cherries, quartered
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking tray with some baking paper. Set aside.
- Sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Drop in the bits of butter. Rub the butter in, using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs.
- Mix the milk with the vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk gradually, mixing with a round bladed knife until you have a soft dough. You may need more or less milk. Stir in the cherries, distributing them as evenly as you can.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat out to approximately 1 1/2 inches in thickness. Cut into 3 inch rounds using a floured cutter and taking care not to twist the cutter.
- Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between each. Re-pat the scraps and repeat cutting until you have cut all your scones. (Bear in mind the most tender scones will be the ones from the first cutting, so do try to get as many from that as you can.)
- Brush the top of each scone with a bit of milk and bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.
- Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool. Best served warm with some butter and jam.
Notes:
You can easily make your own self-rising flour. Just add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt to each cup (140g) of flour needed. Works a charm. This is what I used here today.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
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