Stacey's Cheese Scones

I'm following the example set by other members, and posting my recipes from previous meetings... starting with these cheese scones from our Fairytale Tea Party in July! I had used the "Sword in the Scone" pun previously for my other blog, but it went down well so I figured it would be a good way to get some savoury bakes into our fairytale offering. I accidentally made these vegan, since I try to avoid dairy and used sunflower spread, soy milk and soy cheese. I don't particularly like the taste of soy cheese normally, but it tasted fine in these scones. The scones can be served warm or allowed to cool before serving, and are best eaten on the day of baking.

Prep time: 5-10 mins        

Cook time: 10-12 mins       

Makes 6 large scones

Ingredients:

135ml milk
1 tsp lemon juice

275g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
tsp baking powder
65g margarine
1tbsp caster sugar

100g grated cheese

To glaze:

2tbsp milk
Salt and cracked black pepper

1. Heat the oven to gas mark 7 and place the baking tray you plan to use into the oven to heat up.
2. Heat the milk in the microwave for around 30 seconds until warm, but not hot. Add the lemon juice to the milk and set this to one side for a few minutes whilst you prepare the dry ingredients.
3. Tip the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl, and then tip in the margarine. Rub the ingredients together with your fingers until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and grated cheese to the crumb-like mixture, and mix in with your hands.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the cooled milk. Mix these together using a cutlery knife until they combine to make a wet dough, being careful not to overwork.
5. Scatter flour over the work surface and tip the dough out onto it. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough. Fold the dough over itself 2-3 times until it becomes smooth, again being careful not to overwork. Pat the dough out (it's better to pat than to use a rolling pin) to around 3cm thick.
6. Using a cutter of your choice, cut scones out of the dough. Tip - do not twist your cutter as this seals the sides of the dough and may prevent your scones from rising.
7. Brush the scones with a little milk, and then sprinkle on some salt and black pepper before popping them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Joy's Cheese Scones and Lemon Rose Shortbread

We held a fairy tale themed picnic to raise money for Marie Curie. I picked two of my tried and tested favourite recipes: cheese scones and lemon rose shortbread.

Cheese Scones:

This is my Mum's recipe and it's the one I've always used; it's super easy and they always taste great!

8oz SR flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1oz butter/marg
4oz cheese (I usually use mature or smoked cheddar)
1/4 pint milk

Chuck it all in a food processor and blend until it forms a ball.
Roll out to 2cm thick and cut into desired shapes - don't twist the cutters in the dough as they won't rise as well.
Brush with a little milk, and sprinkle a bit of exra cheese/herbs/ground black pepper if desired.
Bake at 200°C for 15mins.

Lemon Rose Shortbread:

Again, the shortbread recipe is my Mum's (I learnt from the best!) I've probably listed the exact same recipe previously on the blog but here it is again for good measure!

4oz butter/marg
3oz caster sugar
6oz plain flour
2-3 drops lemon essence

Once again, I've afraid this is a lazy food processor recipe! Chuck it all in and blend until it comes together.
Tip onto a floured surface and roll out to about 0.5cm thick. I used a round cutter, and then cut a mini star out of half of the biscuits.
Bake at 190°C for 7-8 mins, then allow to cool.

I never use a recipe for buttercream and just keep mixing and adding until it seems the right consistency, but I also added a couple of drops of rose essence and pink food colouring to this batch.

Use a Wilton 2D rose nozzle to pipe onto the biscuits without holes, then press one with a hole on top - voila! Simple but rather effective, I like to think.

Tom's Oven Scones

This month I decided to have another go at oven scones, something I've never had much success with.  I tried a different recipe from the one I usually use, this one is from the Good Housekeeping cookery book (1978 ed.).  Makes around 10-12 scones.

Ingredients

8oz self raising flour
1-2oz butter or baking margarine
¼ pint milk
1tsp baking power
pinch salt

This will make rather dull plain scones, you can add various flavourings with the flour - I added some chopped dates and almonds. The Book recommends adding 2oz of your flavouring.

Method

Pre-heat oven to 230°C, and warm a baking sheet or two in the oven.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking power (it does make a difference!), then rub in the butter or margarine to make a fine breadcrumb texture.  Add enough of the milk to make a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead very lightly until it forms an reasonably evenly textured lump.  Roll out to about 2cm thickness and cut into rounds with a cutter or triangles with a sharp knife - don't twist the cutter or use a knife which you have to saw at the dough to cut it; this will stop the scones from rising well.  Place on a warmed baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes at 230°C until well risen and browned.

My scones turned out much better than my previous attempts, but still weren't fantastic - they didn't rise very much - I think I used too blunt a knife to cut the dough up.  Let that be a warning to others!

Good luck with your own scones.

Stacey's Honey and Apricot Scones

I entered my Champagne Victoria Sponge recipe into a competition run by Natural Selection Foods and I won a whole bunch of their dried fruits, so I wanted to use some in my baking for fruit and veg month. I chose the apricots as they were lovely and sweet, and substituted the sugar for honey in this recipe.

225g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

50g butter or margarine

50g chopped apricots

2tbsp clear “runny” honey

100ml buttermilk

Beaten egg, to glaze

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Makes 12 small scones

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Tip the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and mix together by hand. Add the butter and rub this into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the chopped apricot, honey and buttermilk to the mixture and stir with a spoon until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for a few minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth.
4. Roll the dough out to around an inch thick, cut out small scones using a round cutter, then place these on the prepared baking tray, leaving a space between each. Brush with the beaten egg to glaze, then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.
5. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool – although scones are always best eaten slightly warm!
6. Eat as they are, or serve with jam and cream.