I have been wittering (twittering) about scones and the regional (south west England) cream teas this week, so, for Mothering Sunday, i see a perfect excuse for posting gratuitous bake and cream photos.

I don't often make scones. Although they are delicious, in a soft, well-padded and comfortable way, they don't keep well, and are best eaten within hours of baking, preferably while still with a breath of oven heat. A warm scone is hard to resist, even when i know the consequences of succumbing to a bite of wheat product, and my children can not eat a whole batch like they could fresh muffins, so i prefer to keep temptations out of my olfactory range. However, i had a big project this week which involved making several batches, and my scone-making pleasures have been thoroughly indulged.

They can be made from scratch within 20 minutes and eaten with either butter and jam, or the stupendous traditional baked cornish cream, they make a fabulous treat. I found a slight variation on the basic recipe of flour, fat, a little sugar, egg and milk which worked extremely well. Adding dried fruit is also an option.

I was taught that the secret to making light scones is a light hand .. and to be distracted.

Golden Scones (from Mary Berry's Fast Cakes)



Using fingertips (and a dirty mind) rub small pieces of soft butter (50g) into 225g self raising flour and 1 tablespoon of baking powder, then add 25g of soft brown sugar.

Crack an egg into a measuring jug, add a tablespoon of golden syrup and beat with a fork to amalgamate. Top to the 150ml measure with milk, and beat once more. Add liquid to flour and mix to a soft dough. Knead briefly on a floured surface, roll out to half an inch thickness.

Using a fluted shape cutter (i like my square cutter in particular) cut 10 - 12 scones, place on a large baking sheet and brush with a little milk. Bake for barely 8 minutes @ 220° until golden brown.









Eat within 24 hours, or freeze straight away and refresh in a warm oven. A perfectly risen scone will have a natural fissure across the width; split, add a dollop of thick, crusted cream and a spoonful of a friend's home grown raspberry jam.

Nigella Lawson's Jam Doughnut Muffins




Simplicity itself, beat liquid ingredients (milk, oil and egg, vanilla extract) together in a jug. Add to flour and caster sugar in a generous mixing bowl. I was rather disappointed with the unappetising batter, but these cakes proved to be so much more than the sum of modest parts.

I use a broad rubber spatula to mix wet and dry ingredients; you need a sure hand, but be very restrained. As soon as the flour is seen to be incorporated, ignoring flecks of raw flour or lumps, stop mixing otherwise your muffins will be tough.








A small spoonful of batter in 12 muffins cases (i could not resist these pale and pretty silicone ones), then a teaspoon of jam, and the remaining batter on top. 20 minutes later they emerge from a hot oven smelling sweet but still fairly unassuming.






The final step is a reduced version of nigella's excessiveness. Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter with the same of caster sugar, and, using a pastry brush, coat the top of each muffin with the granular syrup.

I had to physically hold my children back from the tray while they were too hot to eat, and the whole batch was eaten in less than the time we had taken to make and bake them.



Next i shall try these with a variety of fillings; perhaps lemon curd for Famulus, and i imagine a dark grape jam would work superbly. My son suggests nutella, while i am tempted by my kiwi and gooseberry jam which i usually add to my morning yoghurt. I think we will try a mixed batch tomorrow afternoon. Suggestions welcome.

Nigella Lawson's quadruple chocolate cake



I haven't made this cake in an age, which is a shame; a dense yet soft sponge of bitter cocoa with dark chocolate fragments, sticky, sweet mocha syrup and, if you can bear it, flakes of chocolate on top. It is also one of those marvelous creations made in the food processor .. a few pulses of the button and perfect chocolate batter appears as if by magic. It appeals to my perversity that it is finished with boiling water (or substitute a freshly made expresso for super excess).




Flour, sugar, eggs, a little sour cream, vanilla essence, butter: pulse together, then, with motor running, freshly boiled water is slowly added to make a silky custard. Chocolate shrapnel (milk or plain is your choice) is added, and the mix ladled into a loaf tin.

One hour later (although five minutes less will keep the cake extravegantly moist) and the cake is puffed and crisply crusted, with bubbles of molten chocolate oozing outwards.










Meanwhile boil water, cocoa and sugar rapidly (i added a little Tia Maria for the coffee aroma) for a good 5 minutes to make an unctuous syrup. Pour over the hot cake, punching tiny holes with a cake tester to encourage rivulets of syrup into the middle of the loaf. A crumbled Flake bar or chocolate shavings will stick to the syrup, if you dare.

You are at home with just a few roots vegetables and some feta in the fridge; do not despair. This is a favourite dish of mine and beautifully simple to put together, even while chatting enthusiastically with a friend. Just remember to switch on the oven if you want lunch to be on time ..

Peter Gordon's potato, celeriac and leek gratin with sage and feta. It uses the excellent celeriac root, which i love for its delicate aniseed flavour, and the whole dish is cooked to succulent, salty, creamy goodness with just the addition of a little boiling water - no heavy cream overload.

If, however, you have forgotten to turn the oven on .. try Peter Gordon's curried pumpkin and swede soup with feta and caramelized red onion (also from his book Vegetables) instead for a quick alternative, or for supper later. I have been eating bowlfuls, and varieties of, all week, and can't get enough of the cheerful heat and comforting silky texture.

If i am in a hurry i forgo the garnish (try a spritz of balsamic vinegar instead) and blitz to a puree rather than letting the vegetables disintegrate to a melting softness. In extremis, (like tonight, arriving home cold and tired to a half-full tureen) i added a spoonful of cottage cheese instead of feta.

Tonight will, most probably, be the last night that a child of mine will sleep in the wooden cot upstairs. My youngest is suddenly too long, his toes absurdly tucked into the end of the bed with the blankets. Tomorrow i must move him to the bottom bunk under his brother; a nursery no longer.

A chopped onion browned sweetly sticky in a pan, then added to a bowl of ground lamb, plenty of chopped mint and parsley and ground pepper. I always add a grated apple to my burgers because i can't use breadcrumbs for bulk, and also because the fruit adds sweetness and moisture (and the pectin helps to keep their shape although i also added an egg today). I might have added pinenuts, too, if i had thought about it at the time.

I use my fingers to mix and squidge, and then little patties are dropped back into the shiny pan that the onions were softened in. Briefly browned, then the whole pan goes into a hot oven for 10 minutes to finish them off. Served with new potatoes and green beans.

When in doubt, bake a cake.

I wanted to do something that would keep my hands occupied, so i chose a recipe which needed old fashioned creaming; butter and sugar beaten to a gentle cream colour, then garlands of lemon rind, 3 eggs and a mix of flours added, slowly. Finally, vaguely following Nigella's suggestion, i added an extra lemon's worth of juice and some chopped dried bing cherries.




























A maderia cake; i cut it while still warm, feeding children after school, and the soft crumb fell into big chunks. It is the perfect texture; light but with enough moisture to keep the bite succulent in your mouth. Not too sweet, a good hit of lemon and those huge dark fruits buried like rubies in sand.

I would serve a slice with a glass of Tokay that i brought back from a Margaret River winery, if you were here.

A brief summary of Nigella Lawson's Buche de Noel:



Whisk 6 egg whites until they froth thickly, whisk again with 50g of caster sugar until glossy.

Whisk the egg yolks with 100g of caster sugar until thick and foamy, fold in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 50g sieved cocoa. Carefully amalgamate .. one large spoonful of the whipped whites into the custard froth to ease the mix, and gradually add the rest with a firm but slow hand.









Carefully pour mix into a lined swiss roll tin .. do not bang tin, or you might lose the air. Bake for 20 minutes at 180ºc. I immediately remove from the tin (turn upside down on to a clean tea towel, and peel off the greaseproof paper) and leave to cool a little. Slice off the sides and ends (good to nibble on), spread with a little warmed raspberry jam.

I use this, sliced thickly and soaked in liqueur, for the base of a trifle made with red berries and lashings of custard, but will also cover in buttercream (175g chocolate, 250g icing sugar, 225g butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract thoroughly beaten) for a heart-stopping extravaganza of sugar and fat.