Mini Batch Buttermilk Sultana Scones

I love a freshly baked scone, you can’t beat them when they are still warm from the oven and are most certainly best devoured the day they are made. However, this can sometimes prove a problem when there is only 1 or 2 of you in the house. Typical scone recipes make at least 8 scones, and yes you can freeze them or reheat them, but they are never quite the same.

Recently when the scone cravings called, I decided to do some experimenting and create sultana scones for the single girl. A small batch perfect for devouring while still warm and fresh from the oven.

5 batches of scones later (I’m not kidding) I had created not only a small batch scone recipe, but also a greatly improved, tastier, fluffier and taller scone recipe than my previous attempts. Hurrah. I admit I did use a pre-made flour blend, something which I tend to avoid these days, but for such a small batch of scones, quick and simple is the way to go.

The secret to the scones is the drop of vanilla and buttermilk, which I am convinced help create light and fluffy scones with a delicious flavour. I also decided to add a few sultanas which add a lovely sweet and juicy addition, but they are of course optional. You could add choc chips, chopped nuts or simply leave them plain if you prefer.

Savoured warm from the oven, spread with your favourite jam (and lashings of cream if you like) these scones are hard to beat. They can be made from raw ingredients to freshly baked scone in 20 minutes – what more could you want? Plus, the small batch means you can enjoy freshly baked scones every day!

Mini Batch Buttermilk Sultana Scones

Ingredients

40ml milk

45ml buttermilk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

100g gluten free plain flour (I used Doves Farm)

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

10g caster sugar

¼ tsp xanthan gum

20g sultanas

20g cold butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Stir together the milk, buttermilk and vanilla extract in a small bowl and set aside.

Add all the dry ingredients, including the sultanas, into a bowl and stir together. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Rub the butter into the flour mix using the tips of your fingers, lifting it and letting it fall back into the bowl as you rub them together until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. A few larger clumps of butter is fine.

Pour over the milk mixture and mix into the flour briefly using a round bladed butter knife until it begins to form a dough.

Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently to form a soft dough, don’t overdo it, it will be a little sticky.

Pat the mixture into a thick rectangle, around 1inch thick. It should be just big enough to stamp out 2 scones using a 5cm/2inch round cutter. Press the cutter down straight and do not twist or else they may rise wonky. Gather the scraps together and form them into a final scone by patting the mixture into the cutter to form the shape (no leftovers!)

Place the scones on the baking tray and brush the tops with a little milk. Don’t let it run down the sides.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until risen.

Transfer to a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Best eaten on day of baking. Re-warm any leftover scones in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before eating.

Makes 3 scones

Go Gluten Free! Event & Gluten Free Sour Cream Scones

I’ve decided to host my first Event and I want you all to help!

As my regular readers will know, just over a year ago I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. Coeliac disease affects around 1 in 100 people and is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to wrongly attack itself when it comes into contact with gluten. This damages the lining of the intestines, resulting in illness and poor absorption of food and nutrients. There is no cure, but thankfully if you follow a gluten free diet your body goes back to being healthy and happy again.

Being coeliac means you have to avoid all products containing gluten including wheat, rye, barley, oats and its by-products including bread, cakes, semolina, cous cous, soy sauce, malt, beer, pasta, breakfast cereals, some crisps/chocolates/sauces and liquorice etc…

For a girl who loved to bake and classed bread and breakfast cereal in her top 5 favourite foods you can imagine this meant quite a drastic change of lifestyle. However, after a bit on tinkering in the kitchen I soon learnt that missing gluten doesn’t have to mean on missing out on delicious meals or treats.

To help raise awareness of coeliac disease, each year Coeliac UK hold a Coeliac Awareness Week which this year runs 14th–20th May 2012. To do my part to help spread acceptance and understanding of the condition I’ve decided to host my first event, which I'd love you all to help me with – Go Gluten Free!

To take part in Go Gluten Free!

* Bake/cook a recipe that you have adapted in some way to make it Gluten Free
* Blog about it before 14th May
* Include a link back to this post along with the event logo (A little blurb about coeliac disease would be great too – you can use the top 2 paragraphs to the post)
* Email it to me, along with your name, blog name, recipe name, recipe URL and a small photo of the dish.
* Email Katie at (appleandspice[AT]hotmail.co.uk) with ‘Go Gluten Free!’ in the subject box
* Open world wide. Entries must be in by midnight on 14th May 2012

I will then make a roundup, after 14th so everyone can enjoy a whole host of delicious GF recipes just in time for awareness week! Try making your favourite lasagne using GF pasta, bake a cake, brownies or cookies using ground almonds or a bag of GF flour. It can be sweet or savoury, the only thing I ask is that it be something that is not naturally GF. So don’t send in a bowl of veg soup, but a bowl of veg soup with some homemade GF bread would be great!

I really hope you’ll join me in helping raise awareness and proving to people that going gluten free doesn’t have to mean going without! To get things started, here is my own version of a delicious afternoon tea treat – gluten free scones!

Gluten Free Sour Cream Scones
(These are soft and tender on the inside, just like a good scone should be)

Ingredients
200g gluten free self raising flour (Doves Farm brand)
40g cold butter
20g caster sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
1tsp gluten free baking powder
75ml sour cream
90ml milk

Method

Heat oven to 220C. Lightly dust a baking tray with a little gluten free flour and set aside.
Mix the milk and sour cream together and set aside.
Chop the butter into tiny cubes. Measure out the flour, baking powder, sugar and xanthan gum and add to the butter. Rub the butter into the flour mixture using the tips of your fingers, lifting your hands up above the bowl and letting the mixture fall back as you rub it together. It’s done when the mixture resembles a crumble/breadcrumb mixture.
Pour most of the milk/cream over the crumbs and mix together in a folding motion using a butter knife.
When starting to form a dough, switch to your hands and bring the mixture together into a ball. Add a little more milk if needed. Knead gently for about 5 seconds.
Scatter the work surface with a little flour and pat out the dough using the palm of your hand, until around an inch thick.
Cut out rounds using a 2inch/5cm cutter. Press down firmly when cutting the scones out and don’t twist at all or else they won’t rise straight.
Place the scones onto the baking tray and brush the tops with any leftover milk mixture. Don’t let the milk drip down the side of the scones.
Bake for 12 minutes until lightly golden and risen.
Eat straight away with jam and cream.
Best eaten within a few hours of baking (not a problem in my household)
Makes 8 scones

Daring Bakers January 2012 Challenge: Gluten Free Lemon & Almond Scones

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

I was delighted when this months Daring Bakers challenge was revealed to be scones. I have always loved scones and eaten and baked them many times in recent years. However, since going gluten free over a year ago I had yet to try attempting to make gluten free scones. I have eaten gluten free scones a couple of times when they have been bought for me by well wishing friends from supermarkets and they have all been revolting. Most have been dry and hard, with the texture of cardboard and flavour not much better. One particular batch must have used so much baking powder to try and achieve a rise to the scone that it stripped the skin off the roof of my mouth, leaving it feeling sore and tender – yuk!

So it was with slight trepidation that I set about this challenge. I decided to base my recipe on one I’d seen in The Gluten Free Baker book by Hannah Miles. I liked the fact that they included some ground almonds and buttermilk which I was sure would help with the texture and flavour of the scone. I decided to add in some lemon zest as I think lemon and almond compliment each other wonderfully.

When shaping the dough I simply formed it into a round and cut this into triangles rather than cutting out circles. I always feel this gives a cleaner cut, resulting in a better rise.

Once baked, they looked and smelt very promising. A little craggy in appearance, but I like to think this gives them homemade appeal. They smelt so inviting that I couldn’t resist eating one warm, straight out the oven.

The scone was warm, soft and tender. Slightly crumbly, but light and delicate. Not dense or tough like some bought gluten free scones I’ve tried. As it was warm, the flavour of the almond and lemon really shone through and when eaten with a big blob of raspberry jam, it made the whole thing taste deliciously like a Bakewell tart. The scones light and soft texture taking place of the frangipane topping. Mmm so good!

Thanks Audax for choosing this months challenge and giving me the push to bake my own gluten free scones. Click here to see the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Gluten Free Lemon & Almond Scones
(Recipe adapted from The Gluten Free Baker by Hannah Miles)

Ingredients
100g white teff flour*
75g brown rice flour*
40g ground almonds
50g butter
125ml buttermilk
½ tsp xanthan gum
20g caster sugar
½ tsp almond extract
Zest of ½ lemon
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
Milk and caster sugar for glazing

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and have a baking tray to hand.
Place all the ingredients, except the buttermilk and butter into a large bowl and mix to combine.
Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Rub the butter through the flour using the tips of your fingers until it resembles fine crumbs.
Pour over most of the buttermilk and use a round bladed knife to work the milk into the flour to create a dough. When a dough is starting to form, tip the mixture out onto a work surface and use your hands to bring it together into a soft dough. It shouldn’t be too sticky. Add a little more buttermilk if needed.
Knead gently for a few seconds and then form into a round ball. Pat this down to create a thick circle, about 2.5cm/1inch thick.
Cut the dough round into 6 triangles and arrange on the baking tray.
Brush the tops (not the sides) with a little milk or buttermilk and scatter over a little caster sugar.
Bake for 17-20minutes until just lightly golden around the edges.
Leave to cool for one minute before transferring to a rack to cool slightly.
Serve while still warm with plenty of different jams (and cream if you like) for spreading.
Best eaten or frozen on day of baking.
Makes 6 scones

Note
*If you can’t find brown rice or teff flours, you can use 175g of a plain gluten free flour mix, such as Doves Flour.

Breakfast Scone for One

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. There are such a lot of interesting and exciting options open for breakfast and it makes me sad that so many people overlook them. I cannot understand why some people (other members of my family included) eat the same thing every single morning. I don’t just mean they always have cereal, it’s the fact they always have exactly the same cereal, day in day out! That would be so dull and boring to me. You wouldn’t eat exactly the same thing for dinner every night would you?

Cereal, yoghurt, fruit, scones, muffins, bagels, eggs, porridge, toast, smoothies, wraps, pancakes etc. Even if you just pick one of these categories, at least add some variety with different variations – e.g. porridge. It may sound boring but consider you could make it sweet or salty, topped with a little sugar or drizzled with chocolate chips, banana and walnuts, or how about stirring in some natural yoghurt and fresh berries at the end? I’ve even made it using smoothie instead of half the milk/water for a very delicious and fruity tasting alternative. I’m all for being a bit adventurous with my breakfast fodder, especially since being diagnoised as coeliac, as a lot of my favourite breakfast items are now off limits. The only thing I insist on is that it does include some kind of fruit somewhere.

One of my favourite things to make for breakfast is a breakfast scone. Before you roll your eyes thinking this sounds like far too much work, it’s actually very quick and easy. The breakfast scone is a single serve, one person portion scone and resembles more of free form rock cake, than a dainty little afternoon scone. Its simply made by mixing together a small amount of flour, milk, butter and a pinch of sugar with any additional ingredients you have on hand to form a thick dough which you then scoop out onto a baking tray and bake for a few minutes. No rolling out, cutting or egg washing, it bakes simply in a heap that cracks and puffs into a lumpy looking mountain as it bakes. It’s not the most attractive breakfast, but it is very tasty, quick and makes me feel like I’m having a treat despite its humble appearance.

I had some cold stewed apple leftover from the night before which I decided would be the perfect accompaniment to my breakfast scone. I kept to the cream and jam train of thought by used thick natural yoghurt in place of cream and the freshly cooked fruit instead of the jam. This kept it lighter, fresher and healthier for breakfast. As I planned to use the apple as a topping, the scone itself was studded with chewy sultanas and a pinch of cinnamon. It smelt wonderful as it baked, almost like a cinnamon sultana cookie.

The outer crust was cracked and slightly crusty while it stayed soft and tender inside. They are not as dainty and sophisticated as afternoon tea scones, but eaten hot straight out the oven with the chilled fruit and yoghurt it made a delicious start to my day. It doesn’t really take any extra time than a standard breakfast as it takes moments to put together and while it’s baking you can be getting ready for work or making packed lunches etc.

I love how adding just a few different add-ins or using only one or a mix of flours can create such different tasting results. Judging by the wafts of overripe banana smell that are being emitted from the fruit bowl I think some sort of mashed banana, chocolate chip combo will be called for tomorrow. It might not be in scone form, maybe stirred into my porridge or mixed into a pancake batter – I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Ok, rant over. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so whatever you eat make sure you enjoy it and remember that variety is the spice of life!

Breakfast Scone for One

Ingredients
1 tbsp fine ground corn meal
1 tbsp brown rice flour
2 tbsp gluten free flour mix (or 2tbsp buckwheat flour)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
Small handful sultanas
Small blob (approx 10g) butter (very soft or melted)
40-50ml milk
½ tsp caster sugar

To serve
Stewed apple or fruit compote
Natural yoghurt

Method
Heat the oven to 180C. Have a small baking tray lined with silicone paper ready.
Mix the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, sultanas and sugar together in a small bowl.
Add the very soft or melted butter and mix it into the flour along with the milk, using a small spoon, until you have a very soft dough/thick batter. It should be too wet to handle.
Scoop the dough onto the baking tray and place in the oven for 12 minutes.
Once baked, remove from the oven and enjoy while still warm, accompanied by a spoonful of stewed or fresh fruit and a generous dollop of natural yoghurt.

Note: Works well with other flavours and flours too, so be creative or simply use what you have on hand. Try adding a little mashed banana or a few fresh berries to the batter along with some dark chocolate chips, nuts or spices for a delicious alternative. Try flavouring the yoghurt too. Stirring through a little honey or peanut butter creates a great tasting yoghurty dip

Cinnamon Choc Chip Yoghurt Scones

These are delicious scones and so easy to make. They make use of Greek yoghurt in place of buttermilk and eggs and result in a lovely soft and tender scones. I decided to flavour them with some dark chocolate chips and cinnamon which is a combination I love – well I love anything with cinnamon as I’m sure you know but dark chocolate works particularly well with cinnamon.

I often cut my scones into rounds, probably because this is the most traditional way and recognised shape for a scone, but as I was jazzing up the scones I chose to jazz up the shape too and cut them into triangles.

As I was glazing them with a little milk I hit upon the idea of sprinkling the tops with cinnamon sugar, which gave them a wonderful thin cinnamon sugar crust, which added a slight crunch and a good burst of sweet cinnamon flavour to the finished scones.

The scones are baked in a very hot oven, hotter than I would normally consider but I’m sure this helped the scones be extra light and tender as they puffed up and browned quickly, without being in long enough to dry out the middles – and nobody likes dried out scones. Look at all the fluffy layers and little air bubbles.

These were delicious when eaten warm from the oven, I ate my first one plain, enjoying the taste of the still molten chocolate chips, and then had another one later on with Nutella. If you are not going to eat them all within 12 hours, I would suggest freezing them and then perking them up again in the oven as scones are best eaten fresh. They make a tasty and relatively healthy breakfast too!

Cinnamon Choc Chip Yoghurt Scones
(An Apple & Spice recipe creation)

Ingredients
450g plain flour
25g caster sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
50g cold butter
150g 2% fat Greek yoghurt (I used Total)
125-150ml milk
50g dark chocolate chips
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Topping
20g caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Milk to glaze

Method
Preheat the oven to 250C (yes it sounds hot!) and have a baking tray to hand.
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub it into the flour mixture using the tips of your fingers. Lift your fingers up above the bowl as you rub in the butter, letting the crumbs fall back into the bowl. Continue until all the butter has been evenly distributed and some small crumbly clumps have formed.
Add the chocolate chips, yoghurt and half the milk. Use a round bladed knife to mix everything together until it stars to form a dough. Add a little more milk as necessary, then bring the mixture together using your hands. You want a soft but not too sticky dough. Don’t knead it like dough though as this makes it tough.
Turn the scone mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat or gently roll it out into a large circle, about 1inch/2.5cm thick.
Cut the dough into 8-12 triangles – depending on how big you want your scones.
Brush the tops with a little milk to glaze and help the cinnamon sugar stick to them.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping together and then scatter it over the top of the milk brushed scones.
Transfer the scones to a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes. (8 for smaller scones, 10 for larger ones)
Once baked, transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly and eat while still warm.
Delicious served with honey or Nutella or just some good butter.
Makes 8-12 scones

Buttermilk Scones with Strawberries & Cream

The weather has been so nice this week that I decided to invite all my old friends round for afternoon tea and you can’t have an English afternoon tea without freshly baked scones! It was a nice day so we ate them outside with lightly whipped cream and fresh strawberries. The sun was shining, the berries were sweet and flavoursome and it truly felt like summer had finally arrived.

Scones are so simple to make that you can go from raw ingredients to taking a bite of scone in only half an hour. In fact the fresher they are eaten the butter. In my last post I mentioned that I would like to bake more with buttermilk and as I had some leftover buttermilk in the fridge I replaced the milk called for it the scone recipe with buttermilk. The resulting scones were wonderful. They rose well and were light and tender with a soft interior crumb. Baking scones, like when making pasty, is one of the few times when you want your butter cold. The process of rubbing cold butter into the flour helps create a light and fluffy scone, as fine buttery layers trap little pockets of air which help it bake tall. Its amazing how something so simple and containing so few ingredients can taste so good. Why not bake a batch to enjoy with your strawberries and cream while watching Wimbledon.

Buttermilk Scones
Ingredients
225g self raising flour
20g caster sugar
50g cold butter
125ml buttermilk

To serve
Strawberries
Lightly whipped cream
Strawberry jam

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Have a clean, dry baking tray ready, but there is no need to grease it.
Place the flour and sugar into a bowl, cut the cold butter into cubes and add to the bowl.
Gently rub the butter and flour between the tips of your fingers, lifting the mixture up to the rim of the bowl and letting it fall back into the bowl as you do so. Continue until no large butter clumps remain.
Pour over the butter milk and use a round bladed knife to bring the mixture together until it begins to form a dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until it forms a flaky dough. Do not overwork or your scones will be tough.
Press or roll the dough out until it is around 2cm/2.5cm thick. Use a 5cm cutter to stamp out rounds. Do this by pressing down sharply with the ball of your hand to create a clean cut, do not twist the cutter or your scones will rise twisted.
Place the scones on the baking tray and brush the tops with a little milk.
Bake for 12 minutes until risen and lightly golden brown.
Transfer to a cooling rack and leave until just cool.
Serve with jam, cream and fresh strawberries.
Best eaten on day of baking.
Makes 7 – 8 scones

Wholemeal Goats Cheese Scones

I had some very pungent firm blue goats cheese in the fridge that was maturing at a rate of knots and needed using up. I contemplated melting it into sauce for pasta but feared this would be too overpowering and so decided to use it to make cheese scones instead.

I used self raising wholemeal flour as I think the wheat-ier flour coped better with the flavour/strength of the cheese than white flour would have done.

It is important not to overwork a scone mixture or else your scones will turn out sense and flat. They also don’t need much rolling out as the mixture must be left thick to give a taller scone. It is also important not to twist the cutter when cutting out the scones, or else they will bake twisted and unevenly, a sharp tap on top of the cutter will give you a much cleaner finish.

The scones were lovely eaten warm from the oven; the cheese was still soft and melty and they made the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of lunchtime soup. They also tasted good when spread with a little chutney and I bet onion marmalade would be great too – no extra cheese required!

I wouldn’t recommend making these with a soft mild goats cheese, as this would dissolve into the dough and the flavour would be lost, but any strong leftover firm cheese should do it.

Wholemeal Goats Cheese Scones
Recipe adapted from Delia’s Vegetarian Collection by Delia Smith
Ingredients
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
½ tbsp milk
70g firm goats cheese (strong)
175g wholemeal self raising flour
½ tsp mild chili powder
25g butter
1 egg

For the top
20g firm goats cheese
Milk for brushing

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Sieve the flour and chili powder in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour using the tips of your fingers. Lift the mixture up above the top of the bowl and let it fall back in to aerate it at the same time as working the butter in.
Stop when the butter is evenly distributed and the flour has formed small crumbs.
Beat the egg, yoghurt and milk together in a small bowl and then pour over the flour and crumble in the goats cheese.
Use a knife to start working the liquid into the flour and then switch to your hands to bring the mixture into a soft ball of dough. Do not knead the dough like you would bread.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and gently roll out the dough until it is 1inch/2.5cm thick.
Cut out rounds using a 6cm cutter, pressing down sharply for a clean cut. Do not twist the cutter or else your scone will rise twisted when baked.
Place the scones onto the baking tray and brush the tops with a little milk and scatter over a little more cheese.
Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until risen, golden brown and the cheese is bubbling.
Transfer the scones to a wire wrack to cool slightly.
Best served warm and eaten within 2 days.
Makes 6 scones.

Chubby Rascals

These are actually Fat Rascals, which are a traditional Yorkshire treat. They are a cross between a scone and a teacake, quite dense, crumbly and stuffed full of currants and candied peel. The origin of their name is unkown but I believe it has something to do with the glace cherries and sliced almonds which are arranged into a sort of mischevious (and slightly scary) face on the top of each rascal. I also like to believe that it could also be because these fat, thick, scones were a favourite with children who were affectionately called ‘rascals’ our equivalent of called someone a ‘cheeky monkey’ these days. However, this is just my own speculation. Anyone else have any ideas on the origin of the name?

I made these for Monday Munchers at work. I got the inspiration to make them after sampling one on a recent visit to Betty’s Tea Shop in Harrogate which is famous for these afternoon treats. Mine turned out slightly thinner than they should have done, not quite as fat as the originals and so I have called mine Chubby Rascals.

They have a light buttery crumb thanks to the sour cream included in the batter. This also makes them quite rich and filling. The candied peel added a lovely sweet and zesty flavour. They were very much enjoyed but I think next time I will try not to roll them out so thinly in the hope they turn out a little fatter. They are lovely to munch on as they are but spread with butter and jam they become a really special afternoon treat.

Chubby (Fat) Rascals
Ingredients
100g butter (or half butter and half lard)
350g plain flour
75g currants
25g candied mixed peel
1 heaped tsp baking powder
75g caster sugar
150ml sour cream
Glace cherries
Sliced or whole blanched almonds

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
Rub the butter into the flour using you fingertips until no big lumps remain.
Mix through the sugar, baking powder, currants and peel.
Add the cream, reserving a little as you may not need it all, and mix to a stiff dough.
Flour a work surface and gently roll out the dough until it is 2cm thick.
Stamp out rounds using a pastry cutter and place on the baking tray.
Cut a glace cherry in half and place on the top of each rascal along with 3-4 almonds in the design of a face.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown.
Cool slightly before munching.
Makes 8 – 10 Rascals

Strawberry Scones

My lovely grandma came to visit me on Saturday, to see my new flat and for a bit of retail therapy in Leeds city centre. We had great fun browsing the shops and peering through the windows the designer shops. We had a wonderful lunch at Yo Sushi, a sushi bar that is inside Harvey Nichols (Veg sushi for me). Neither of us had had sushi before and enjoyed the whole experience. You sit on tall stalls around a conveyor belt that has little portions of sushi or marinated vegetables on colour coded plates that float past you. You simply pick what you fancy off the conveyor belt and at the end they work out what you owe based on the colour and number of dishes you have. We both had green tea to drink and shared some vegetable dishes which included soybeans and marinated aubergine which was particularly flavoursome. Then I had a little seaweed roll that had rice and red pepper inside and another one with omelette and avocado. Really tasty, I have never had the proper nori seaweed sheets before and really enjoyed the new texture and flavour. My grandma had some salmon sushi and a spicy prawn salad. We also both enjoyed the preserved ginger it comes with. It added a great boost of flavour. I think you are only meant to eat it with the fish dishes, but I liked it on my red pepper sushi too.

Anyway, I’m getting side tracked. After our shopping spree we headed back to my flat where we had afternoon tea and these scones which I had baked earlier that morning. They were lovely and light and the addition of the dried strawberries made a nice summery change to the usual raisins and really enhanced the flavour of the strawberry jam (homemade) they were served with and made them that little bit more special. Serve them with clotted cream for a really indulgent treat, although we made do with lightly whipped cream. Many thanks to Gigi from Gigi Cakes who gave me the idea of making scones with the dried strawberries.

Strawberry Scones
Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine
Ingredients
225g plain flour
2 tsp level baking powder
30g caster sugar
55g butter
50g dried strawberries (or other dried fruit of your choice)
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
120ml milk

Method
Heat the oven to 200C.
Cut the dried strawberries into raisin sized pieces using a pair of scissors and set to one side for later.
Add the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a large bowl. Chop the butter into cubes, and rub into the flour using the tips of your fingers. Be gentle and lift the flour/butter mixture up and let it fall back into the bowl as you rub it between your fingers.
When the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add the dried strawberries and mix briely so they become coated in flour.
Add the yoghurt and a little of the milk. Work the liquid into the flour mixture using the tips of your fingers in a claw formation. Add more milk until you have a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
Turn the mix out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.
Roll the dough out until it is 2cm thick and then stamp out scones using a 5cm cutter. Do not twist the cutter or your scones will rise unevenly.
Place onto a dry baking tray, brush the tops with milk.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until risen and golden brown on top.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire wrack to cool. They are delicious eaten still warm and best eaten on the day they were made or within 24hrs.
Serve with strawberry jam and clotted cream for an indulgent afternoon tea.
Makes 6 scones and one small misshape as a cooks perk.