Simple Scones

This has to be the simplest scone recipe I have ever found. It works really well and to be honest goes against the general theory.

I was given a baking book by Paul Hollywood which I have to say is very good and as I was thumbing through this morning I happened on his scone recipe. I am familiar with the traditional way of making scones which involves mixing flour and cold butter together to form crumbs but his technique was different I had to give it a try

• 1lb 2oz of String White Flour
• 2 medium eggs beaten (plus 1 more egg for an egg wash)
• 3oz of sugar (caster or bakers sugar if you have it)
• 1oz of baking powder
• 3oz of butter (softened! - use microwave)
• 8fl oz milk
• 3.5 oz of Raisins (optional --- but why not)

So here is the procedure. 

1. Put all the ingredients (except egg wash and raisins) and put them in a mixer with a paddle attachment. or put them in a bowl and use your hands/spoon
2. Mix on low speed for 2 mins - 5 mins if by hand
3. combine the raisins if using
4. Scoop out onto lightly floured surface and pat/roll in to a rectangle about 2 inch thick. 
5. Cut out scones (use a 2 - 3 inch cutter and cut straight down, no twisting!)
6. Place on a parchment lined baking tray and egg wash the tops (no dripping down the sides)
7. Place in the refrigerator for 30mins while you heat the oven to 425F.
8. After 30 mins egg wash again and then place in oven for 15 mins.

 As you can see they turned out great. This is now my go to recipe for scones.

Prince William’s Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Well this post is a little off-piste but since there a big Royal Wedding back in my homeland and also because my wife begged me to make I did a bit of research into this simple (no-bake) cake that became a favorite of a future king and will be served at the wedding along side a more traditional wedding cake.

It should be said that there are many recipes online for this cake and they are all subtly different in nature but they all contain two main ingredients and do not require you to fire up your oven. This then is my interpretation compiled it must be said from the many versions I found and uses as many local ingredients as I could find. Unfortunately one of the main ingredients is McVities’s Rich Tea biscuits (you probably could substitute any butter biscuit) which are not local and might prove hard to find. For those readers in the Cupertino area who want the authentic article, you can find them at Genes Market in Saratoga. The other key ingredient is Chocolate and I would suggest you find a nice fair trade variety of at least 70% cocoa.

So putting the ingredients together we have

• 1x 7oz packet of Rich Tea Biscuits
• 1 Cup of heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons of local honey
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 16oz of (at least 70%) chocolate bits
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For hardware you will need a mixing bowl and a 7-8inch springform pan which has been well greased.

To make the base of the cake simply break up the biscuits into chunks you want them to be 1/4 – 1/2 inch not crumbs. Place them in a bowl. Put the cream, honey and butter into a pan and bring to a good simmer. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until you have a smooth glossy mixture with no lumps. Add the vanilla extract and combine. Then pour this gooey mixture over the biscuits and fold together.

Transfer the chocolate and biscuits to the springform pan and smooth out the top. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air holes. Then put the whole thing into the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Once the cake has set you can gently remove it from the springform pan. It is good enough to eat right now but for an extra bit of royal flourish it is an idea to glaze it with more chocolate. To make the glaze take the following ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 cup of cream
• 6 oz of 70% chocolate

Put the butter and cream into a pan and bring to a simmer, then add the chocolate. Mix until it is smooth. Place the chilled cake onto a wire rack over some parchment. Then poor the mixture over the cake starting in the middle. User a knife or spatula to smooth the glaze over the cake and down the sides. Allow to firm up, then transfer to a plate. Keep refrigerated until serving time.

This is a very simple cake to make and would something that kids would be able to do (with supervision) and enjoy the results. If you fancy a bit of royal faire on your table then give it a go..

100% Wholewheat Bread

I have been baking bread for a few years now and something that has escaped me is a 100% Wholemeal loaf that didn't look like frisbie, tasted like sawdust or took 3 days to make.

The problem is the lack of gluten in wholemeal flour making it hard to develop a strong structure when proving. Adding a portion of white flour can improve things but that defeats the object.

Well I discovered a recipe in Darina Allen's book called Forgotten Skills of Cooking entitled Ballymaloe brown bread. It is so simple to make, no kneading required and it yields a crusty yet soft delicious tasting loaf of bread. The recipe was developed in the 1940's by Doris Grant for the Ministry of food (no not the Jamie Oliver one).

The only bit of special kit you need is a 5x8 inch loaf tin then gather the following ingredients.

450g Stone ground whole meal flour
1tsp Salt
1tsp molasses
425ml lukewarm water
15g Dried yeast
Oil for greasing
Seeds such as sesame

Preheat oven to 450F

Grease loaf tin (I recommend lining the tin with parchment)

Mix the yeast with 140ml of water and molasses and mix. Leave for a few mins to froth.

Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix to distribute the salt. Pour in the water and the frothy yeat mixture and mix to a sloppy dough. Note this will be too wet to knead if not add a bit more water. Mix in the bowl then put into tin, sprinkle seeds on top.

Cover tin with towel and wait for 20mins just for the dough to rise to the top of the tin. The gently place it in the oven. Leave for 20mins then turn down the oven to 400F.

Cook for 40mins then remove from tin and place loaf back in the oven for 10mins to crisp the crust. Remove and cool then slice and enjoy. A simple, everyday 100% wholemeal loaf do youself a favor and try this recipe

Welsh cakes

I made these last weekend in preparation for St Davids day, March 1st. I remember my mother and welsh grandmother made these most weeks only they called them bakestones. There are made in a similar way to scones but cooked on a griddle like pancakes. Very with a nice cup of (fairtrade) tea. There are a number of recipies on the net but I will post my recipe later

Book Review: Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg might seem like a rather dull subject and to be honest I am not sure what attracted me to pick this book for my Christmas read. Perhaps I was looking for answers to the questions I get on what fish to bye, perhaps it was my childhood passion for fishing or even the vague memories of the Icelandic cod war which I thought was such a strange thing to go to war over in my late teens. Whatever reason it was, I am glad I did. This is a remarkable book that is incredibly informative and educational while presenting the argument for a sustainable future for protein from our seas and oceans. The book  presents the story of four fish rather like the style of botany of desire by Micheal Pollen and as such outlines the human impact in the desire for the various traits of each fish and how we have driven each species to the edge of destruction and are now trying to control their existence through farming techniques with potentially negative affects on both the environment and the remaining wild forms.

Paul questions the choice of the species we have set our sights on and compares their compatibility for domestication with the animals we have selected for our meat based protein. The four fish species are the main characters in this book, their stories share a common plot and it is told in great detail and as you go through the pages the eventual conclusion is obvious. The characters we have selected are, Salmon, Bass, Cod and blue fin Tuna, the plot is similar for each although the individual stories as diverse as the characteristics of the particular fish. This isn't one of those finger pointing environmental books that leave you with more questions than you had at the start or make you feel guilty about your existing lifestyle choices. It offers real advice to consumers, the anglers who catch, the fishing industry, fish farmers and even the political bodies that set fishing policies.

If you eat fish and want to understand how to be more informed and make sustainable choices this is good book for you and it will also provide you with the information to get involved in the debate and lobbying for a sustainable industry that can provide our need for fish protein and the future of fish as a sustainable wild and domesticated source.

A Smoking Bishop

Here's something for your Christmas parties right out of the pages of A Christmas Carol. A Smoking Bishop is a hot mulled wine drink which goes back to the early 1800's and was mentioned by a repentant Scrooge in a conversation with his astonished clerk Bob Crachit at the end of A Christmas Carol

"A merry Christmas, Bob!" said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop"


There are many recipes which a similar and I think it is fair to same you can swap and change the citrus component based on availability and tweak the spices to taste the only constants being the wine and ruby port. I noted down this unreferenced recipe from the cover of an old cook book so if you are in the mood for some holiday cheer Dickens style have a go

• 6 large oranges
• 2 large lemons
• 120g of brown sugar (demerara)
• 1 bottle (750ml) red wine - a decent local variety
• 1 bottle (750ml) ruby port - California has great ruby ports
• 8 cloves
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground mace

Preheat the oven to 250F(120C). Place the oranges a lemons on a clean roasting tray and place in the oven to roast until they are pale brown (about 60-90 mins). Once baked place one clove into each of the fruits and carefully place them still hot into a large bowl, pouring any juice which had run from them during baking. Add the sugar and the spices (except the cinnamon) to the bowl and pour in the wine. Gently mix to combine then cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. 

The next day crush the juice out of the oranges and lemons (I use a potato masher)  then strain into a saucepan and push as much liquid as possible through the sieve. Compost what is left in the sieve add the cinnamon sticks and turn up the heat to bring the wine to a high simmer for 5 mins (do not boil!). Then turn the heat down and add the port gently heat until steaming (smoking) and serve immediately.

Be sure to pour into heat proof glasses nice and hot, serve citrus slices on side and sugar so the sweet tooths can sweeten the Bishop to their own desires.

A very Merry Christmas to you all.....

Talking Dirt – Book Review

I have recently finished reading the book Talking Dirt by Annie Spiegelman the self appointed Dirt Diva. I found this to be a very good book for gardeners of all levels, from those starting to think of starting a garden through to seasoned green fingers. The style of the writing is witty and casual with lots of online references sprinkled through it (which makes it good as an e-book), each plant that is recommended is given a “Whaa-whaa” rating based on their merit and the dependant care required, a rating of 1 is good while plant with a Whaa-whaa rating of 10 should be avoided.

There is an excellent section on composting which really breaks down the theory and science of growing great soil. The text also covers both all of the topics key to planning, growing and maintaining a sustainable garden. I consider this to be an excellent book for anyone interested in the subject. I am finding myself dipping into it as I plan out my seasonal planting and preparations in my own garden.