Fruit Scones

Recipe by Steve Smith, Head Chef at Michelin Starred Bohemia Bar & Restaurant in Jersey

Fruit Scones Recipe:

Ingredients (to make 40 scones)

1200g Plain Flour
125g Caster Sugar
70g Baking Powder
175g Unsalted Butter
1 Litre Milk
550g Sultanas
1 Egg
Method

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and butter until the butter has crumbled.
2. Add the sultanas and milk.
3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface, cut to the desired shape and size, egg wash (1 egg and a splash of milk), and leave to prove for 15 minutes.
4. Bake at 180°c for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
5. Enjoy!

Chocolate Fruit Cake (UK)

Nigella Lawson Recipe

INGREDIENTS
Makes: about 10 slices

350 grams prunes
250 grams raisins
125 grams currants
50 grams piece candied orange peel
175 grams soft unsalted butter
175 grams dark brown muscovado sugar
175 millilitres runny honey
125 millilitres tia maria or other coffee liqueur
2 – 3 oranges (juice and zest)
1 teaspoon mixed spice
4 tablespoons cocoa
3 large eggs (beaten)
150 grams plain flour
75 grams ground almonds
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

METHOD
Preheat the oven to gas mark 2/150°C/300°F. Line the sides and bottom of a 20cm / 8-inch round, 9cm / 3½ inch deep, loose-bottomed cake tin with a double layer of baking parchment. Before proceeding any further, read the following which explains how to do it if you need the encouragement. The paper should come up higher than the sides of the tin; think of a lining that’s twice as deep as the tin. Cut out two circles of paper, and two very long rectangles that will fit along the sides of the tin coming up from it like a top hat. Before you put the rectangular cut-out paper in, fold one long side in of both pieces, as if turning up a hem of about 2cm / 1 inch, and then take some scissors and snip into this hem, at intervals of about 2cm / 1 inch – as if you were making a rough frill. Grease the tin, lay one circle on the bottom and get one of your long pieces, then fit with the frilly edge along the bottom, which you press down to sit flat on the circle to hold it in place. Press the paper well into the sides, and repeat with the second piece. Now place the second circle of paper on the bottom of the tin, but on top of the two pressed-down frilly edges, which will also help to hold the pieces around the edge in place. Finally, wrap the tin with brown parcel paper, again making it higher than the sides, and tie it in place with kitchen twine.
Put the fruit, butter, sugar, runny honey, Tia Maria, orange juice and zests, spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan and bring to the boil gently, stirring as the butter melts. Simmer for 10 minutes, and then take off the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes are up, it will have cooled a little (though you could leave it for longer if you wanted). Add the beaten eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula, however you like, to combine.
Pour the fruit cake mixture into the prepared cake tin. Place in the oven and bake for 1¾–2 hours, by which time the top of the cake should be firm but will have a shiny and sticky look. If you insert a cake tester into the centre of the cake it will still be a little gooey in the middle.
Put the cake on a cooling rack. It will hold its heat and take a while to cool, but once it has, unmould it from the tin and, if you don’t want to eat it immediately (and like any fruit cake it has a very long life), wrap it in baking parchment and then in foil and place in a tin.

Swedish Princess Cake

From: Telegraph

Note: This is time consuming and difficult, so do it when you have a whole day free.

INGREDIENTS

75g raspberry jam

For the vanilla patisserie cream

1 vanilla pod
500ml whole milk
6 egg yolks
140g caster sugar
45g corn flour

For the cake layers

5 eggs
150g caster sugar
130g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla sugar

For the whipped cream

700ml whipping cream
2tbs icing sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar

To garnish

1 marzipan lid (available at Scandi Kitchen) – or 300g marzipan and green food colouring
1 tsp icing sugar

Marzipan rose

40g marzipan
1 drop red food colouring
1 drop green food colouring

DIRECTIONS

To make the patisserie cream, split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds and add to a saucepan with the milk. Bring to the boil. Take care not to burn and turn off heat as soon as boiling point is reached.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until it goes almost white, then turn off the whisk and add the corn flour. Turn the whisk back on medium and slowly add the hot milk to the bowl, whisking continuously.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring back to the boil and cook for 1 minute to thicken. Turn off, sieve the mixture into a bowl, cling film and cool down completely in the fridge before using.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6

Trace 3 identical circles onto baking paper – approximately 20-22 cm diameter. Place baking paper onto flat baking trays.

To make the cake layers, whisk the egg and sugar until white and fluffy. The key here is to whisk for a long time to incorporate as much air as possible as there are no raising agents in the mixture.

Sift the flour and vanilla sugar into the egg mixture and fold, very carefully, until completely incorporated. Preserve as much air as possible, so fold carefully but thoroughly.

Carefully divide the batter between the three circles and ensure batter fills the circles all the way around, neatly.

Bake in the oven until just golden brown and done – this will depend on your oven, but 5-6 minutes is usually fine.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Very carefully remove the baking paper – if it sticks, wet the back of the paper a little bit and it should come off with more ease.

On high speed, whisk all ingredients for the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. The cream needs to be quite firm to hold when decorating the cake – but take care not to over whip.

Place the first layer cake on the plate you wish to serve on. Spread a nice layer of raspberry jam, follow by a 1cm thick layer of the patisserie cream. Add another cake layer and repeat over again and then add the final cake layer on top (You may have a bit of excess patisserie cream left over).

On the top sponge layer, carefully add the whipped cream in a slightly flat “dome” shape – you will need to use a spatula here to get it quite smooth all over. You’re looking for around 3-4 cm “top” on the cake. Then carefully place the marzipan lid on top and over the edge of the cake, making sure the sides are completely covered and smooth. If you make your own marzipan lid, add the food colouring to the marzipan and roll it out into a round shape which you then put on the cake.

Sift powdered sugar on top, then use a piping nozzle and any leftover whipped cream to pipe rosettes of cream around the edge to hide the bottom of the marzipan and any folds.
To make an easy rose garnish, add few drops of food colouring to the marzipan – add icing sugar if it gets too sticky. Roll out a 1 mm thick piece, 2cm wide and around 10cm long. Roll it up loosely, nip the bottom together, spread the leaves a bit and voila: a marzipan rose for the top of your cake.

This cake greatly improves after a few hours in the fridge so all the flavours are soaked into the cake layers.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

From the Great British Bake Off

Adapted from a recipe by “The Great British Bake Off” contestant Tamal Ray.

You’ll need an 8-inch springform pan and an instant-read thermometer. We tested this with all-purpose flour and more baking powder, rather than the self-rising flour called for in the original recipe.

Make Ahead: The unfrosted cake can be baked and tightly wrapped in plastic 1 day in advance.

Tested size: 16 servings; makes one 8-inch layer cake

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE

About 2 cups (9 ounces) Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
Generous 1/2 cup (4 ounces) dried figs, chopped
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) prunes, chopped
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons, plus the juice of 1 1/2 lemons (1 tablespoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice)
Scant 1/4 cup (1 ounce) flour for coating the fruit, plus 1 3/4 cups (9 ounces) for the batter
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder

FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE FROSTING

3/4 cup (9 1/2 ounces) date syrup/molasses (see headnote)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus scant 1 tablespoon 4 1/2 ounces total) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups heavy cream

FOR DECORATION (OPTIONAL)

Scant 3/4 cup (5 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS

For the cake: Combine the chopped dates, figs and prunes with the lemon juice in a bowl. Stir in the 1/4 cup of flour, then the lemon and orange zests.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease the inside of the springform pan with butter, then line the base with parchment paper. Place a small plate in the freezer.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer; beat on medium speed for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Stop to scrape down the bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed, beating well between each addition. Stop to scrape down the bowl. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour, the baking powder and the dried-fruit mixture; beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly. Bake (middle rack) for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until nicely browned and fragrant. A tester inserted into the center should come out clean. (If the top of the cake begins to brown too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil.) Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan. Discard the parchment paper on the base of the cake; transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the toffee sauce frosting: Combine the date syrup, butter and heavy cream in a large saucepan over low heat. Cook for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring often, until smooth and bubbling (the temperature of the mixture will register about 240 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). To test whether it is ready, remove the plate from the freezer and put a teaspoonful of the hot sauce in the middle. Leave it for a minute, then test the consistency: It should be spreadable and not runny. Transfer to a bowl; let it cool and thicken to a spreadable consistency, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to dissipate the heat and keep it smooth and glossy.

Once the cake is cool, cut it in half horizontally. Place the bottom half on a serving plate and spread some of the toffee sauce on top. Sandwich with the top half and spread more toffee sauce neatly all over the sides and top of the cake.

For the optional sugar decoration: Combine the granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat; once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to medium-high and cook without stirring to form a rich, amber-colored, translucent caramel that registers 350 to 360 degrees on the thermometer.

Remove from the heat; let it cool just enough so the liquid sugar begins to thicken a little bit; this will ensure that it holds its shape. Here’s where you can have some fun. Experiment with the mixture in different shapes — drizzle it over a rolling pin covered in parchment paper, stretch it into thin threads to form a “nest” or drop small bits onto parchment or a silicone mat to form beads.

Once the sugar decorations are cool (the sauce should be set well on the cake, too), arrange them on the cake however you like.

The cake can be served right away. To make clean cuts, you may want to use a serrated knife, dipping it in a glass of hot water and wiping it off between cuts.

OTHER GREAT GBBO RECIPES!

 

Bourbon Biscuits

My mom loves these biscuits, she used to eat them growing up in India. They are not very available here in the U.S. I hope this recipe is close to her memory of the cookies.

From: Nic Cooks

Homemade Bourbon Biscuits (makes 40 ish)

Biscuit:

300g plain flour
75g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
125g unsalted butter
150 raw caster sugar plus extra for dusting (blended white sugar)
1 egg
50g golden syrup (or palm syrup)

Chocolate Filing:

200g dark chocolate
100g cooking cream (whipping cream)

DIRECTIONS:

BISCUIT:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (325F).
2. Put the flour, cocoa powder bicarbonate soda and salt into a food processor and whiz to combine.
3. Add the butter and continue to blend until combined. It will start to look like fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add the sugar and whiz again.
5. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg then add the golden syrup and continue to beat until mixed.
6. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and whiz until the mixture starts to form a dough.
7. Tip the mixture out onto a clean surface and knead briefly to form a dough. place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.
8. Roll the dough between two pieces of baking paper or cling wrap/film until it is about 2-3 mm thick. The dough is fairly delicate so this has to be done carefully but the thinner they are the crispier the biscuit will be.
9. Using a 30cm ruler, cut out lengths of dough to the width of the ruler. Then cut into rectangles about 7cm long. This sounds like an arduous job but if the biscuits are not the same size they won’t look very good when they are sandwiched together
10. Lay the rectangles on a non-stick baking tray or silicone mat. Using a skewer, prick ten holes (five each side) along the long edges of each biscuit to give that authentic bourbon look. The real biscuits also have the name written on them but my skills didn’t stretch to that.
11. Re-roll any dough scraps and continue until all dough has been used up. This amount of dough makes about 40 biscuits so you will probably have to bake in batches.
12. Bake for 12 minutes at 170C (325F). Once cooked remove from the tray immediately and lay on a sheet of baking paper on a hard, flat surface to cool. This will ensure that any biscuits that have curled during baking cool flat. While they are still warm sprinkle with a little of the leftover caster sugar.

FILLING:

1. While the biscuits are cooling make the filling.
2. Melt the chocolate then stir in the cream, place in a piping bag to cool slightly or do what I did and use a sandwich bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner.
3. Match the biscuits into evenly sized pairs. Pipe the chocolate onto the bottom of one biscuit then top with a second biscuit. Push down gently so they stick but not too hard so the filling doesn’t burst out of the edges.
4. Allow to cool then eat. They taste better the following day.

 

Alternate Recipe here: http://www.thelittleloaf.com/2012/05/07/real-bourbon-biscuits/

And here: http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/real-bourbon-biscuits.html

And here: http://www.mrsbishopsbakesandbanter.co.uk/2015/06/homemade-bourbon-biscuits-recipe.html

 

The Peckish Pig’s Scones

Peckish Pig’s English Scones
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 10

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups flour
¾ sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
12 ounces butter (Kerrygold Irish Butter)
4 eggs (Phil’s eggs)
2 cups heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and fold, careful not to over mix.
4. Shape into two ounce scones and bake for 20 minutes or until slightly brown.
5. Serve British style – slice the scones in half, butter with Kerrygold butter, top with strawberry jam, top with whipping cream, top with fresh sliced strawberries.
6. Enjoy!!

The Guardian’s Naan Recipe

They claim it’s the “best” naan. I made it and it was so good I forgot to photograph it.

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes 6-8)

1.5 tsp fast-action yeast

1 tsp sugar

150ml warm water

300g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust

1 tsp salt

5 tbsp natural yoghurt

2 tbsp melted ghee or butter, plus extra to brush

A little vegetable oil, to grease

1 tsp nigella (black onion), sesame or poppy seeds (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put the yeast, sugar and two tablespoons of warm water in a bowl and stir well. Leave until it begins to froth.
2. Put the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Stir the yoghurt into the yeast mixture, then make a well in the middle of the flour and pour it in, plus the melted ghee. Mix, then gradually stir in the water to make a soft, sticky mixture that is just firm enough to call a dough, but not at all dry.
3. Tip out on a lightly floured surface and knead for about five minutes until smooth and a little less sticky, then put in a large, lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and leave in a draught-free place (the airing cupboard, or an unlit oven) until doubled in size: roughly 90–120 minutes.
4. Tip the dough back out on to the lightly floured surface and knock the air out, then divide into eight balls (or six if you have a particularly large frying pan). Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan over a very high heat for five minutes and put the oven on low. Prepare the melted ghee and any seeds to garnish.
5. Flatten one of the balls and prod or roll it into a flat circle, slightly thicker around the edge. Pick it up by the top to stretch it slightly into a teardrop shape, then put it in the hot pan. When it starts to bubble, turn it over and cook until the other side is browned in patches. Turn it back over and cook until there are no doughy bits remaining.
6. Brush with melted ghee and sprinkle with seeds, if using, and put in the oven to keep warm while you make the other breads.

NOTE: For garlic naan, finely chop 6 cloves of garlic, add a quarter spoon or so of salt, and a spoonful or two of ghee and mix. Place in center of naan dough ball and roll out. YUM!!!!!

Cream Tea (Scones)

Bizarrely, if you go to Devon in the UK and order “cream tea”, you get scones.

INGREDIENTS:

500 g flour
15 g baking powder
pinch salt
100 g sugar
100 g butter, diced
250 ml milk

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients.

Add butter until it is incorporated.

Add milk until a dough is formed.

Hand roll dough: 2.5 cm high, 5 cm biscuit cutter, bake 400 F for 15 min.

Cast iron: 2.5 cm high, 8 in circle cut into 8 wedges, bake 400 F for 15 min.

You can add an egg wash if you like to make the scones shiny. I omitted this step.

Enjoy with butter and jam, or clotted cream and jam.

Welsh Honey and Ginger Cake

This is a British National Trust recipe, so I’m including the metric measurements for reference. In Wales, they make it for St.David’s Day. The local name for the cake is Tiessennau Mel.

INGREDIENTS:

100 g (4 oz) butter = 1 stick butter
225 g (8 oz) honey = 1 c honey
150 ml (5 oz) milk = 5/8 c milk
450 g (1 lb) flour, sifted = 4 c flour
pinch salt
2.5 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground ginger
100 g (4 oz) sultanas (sultana = golden raisin) = 1/2 c raisins
50 g (2 oz) mixed candied peel = 1/4 c fruitcake mix
2 eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Grease an 8 inch cake pan.

3. Melt butter with honey and milk on stove over low heat. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

4. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, ginger, raisins and candied peel.

5. Add eggs to flour mixture.

6. Add honey and milk mixture to flour mixture.

7. Consistency should be soft.

8. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake 65-70 min.

NOTE: I am baking in a cast iron pan as a test. Oiled, no parchment, no flour, did not preheat.
Batter = amazingly delicious. DO NOT BAKE IN A CAST IRON, IT REALLY DRIES OUT THE CAKE.

Cast Iron Popovers (aka Yorkshire Pudding)

Recipe for the Nordic Ware grande pan (makes one panful, six big popovers):

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix up above while preheating oven to 450 F. Let sit.

2. Pour 1-2 cm vegetable oil into popover cups. Put popover pan into oven to heat up.

3. Divide batter into cups evenly. Be neat, if the batter gets on the side, the popovers won’t rise well.

4. Bake 15 min at 450 F, then 15 min at 350 F.

5. Take out of oven, and take out of pans IMMEDIATELY or they will get soggy.

6. Stab popovers with knife to let out steam.

7. ENJOY!!

HALF RECIPE FOR SMALL SIX CUP POPOVER PAN

For a small, 6-cup popover pan (or three 6oz pyrex custard cups), you need:

• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup unbleached white flour (preferably with the germ)
• 1/8 tsp salt

I make it in a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup. Preheat the oven to 450°F. While that’s happening, pour ½ cup of milk into the measuring cup and crack in one egg. Beat that with a wire wisk. Add the salt and beat some more. Measure out ½ cup of flour and dump that in. Wisk it together until it’s smooth, then as soon as it’s smooth (no lumps) stop mixing. Don’t overmix it. Let the batter sit while the oven continues to preheat.

If you’re using cast iron rather than pyrex, rub flaxseed oil into the popover cups. At some advanced point when the pan is excruciatingly well seasoned this won’t be necessary, but for now it’s necessary to keep the popovers from sticking and it also serves to add seasoning to the pan. When the oven is preheated, put the popover pan into the oven to heat empty for five minutes. Your popovers will pop higher if the pan is preheated. You do this with oil rather than butter because the butter will burn.

When the hot pan comes out of the oven, put a tiny dab of butter in the bottom of each cup. This further ensures nonstickiness, adds seasoning to the pan, and adds flavor to the popovers. Then pour the batter into the cups – filling only about halfway. Don’t overfill the cups or they won’t pop sufficiently

Put the pan back in the oven, this time with the batter, and set your timer for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 350°F (do not open the oven!) and continue baking for another 15 minutes. (If you’re making them in 6oz pyrex cups, bake for 20 minutes at 350°F rather than 15 minutes.)

As soon as they’re out of the oven, pull them out of the pan (they should slide right out), put them on a cooling rack, and stab them with a small knife to release the steam inside so they don’t get soggy.

Jamie Oliver’s Popovers

NOTES: I am going to tell you something. These popovers are so easy to make and so delicious that I am actually investing a specialty product – a Nordic Ware Grande Popover Pan (cast aluminum, max temp 450 F, proper spacing, good reviews). These are great to serve for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, with sweet foods, with savory foods, with all foods, with no food. They look SOOOO impressive, and take next to NOOOO effort.