Making English Scones

My friend came over yesterday and showed me how to make proper English Scones.  When our family  are out and about touring it is always a treat to stop at a little tea shop and have a cup of tea and a scone.  I will miss that when we return to the states, but now I can make my very own:)

Ingredients flour, sugar, salt, margarine,  egg, milk, raisins  baking powder 

sift 8 oz self raising flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 oz sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
then add 2 oz soften (not melted) margarine and crumpled into the mixture by hand

add 1 beaten egg and gradually add milk (very little at a time) until the the mixture all sticks together

add 1/2 cup raisins, mix but don't over handle the dough to much

place into a greased round tin, this batter will raise so spread it out.

You can add lines with a knife if you like

brush a little egg or milk to the top

Bake for approx. 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Use the tooth pick test to see if the inside is done

You can add butter, jam to your scone but the way my family likes it is:

to add lots of clotted cream

Then add raspberry or strawberry jam to it and serve with a fresh pot of English tea!!!

This is an excellent recipe.  Not sure if you can find clotted cream in the states but it is the best cream ever!!!!

Enjoy:)!

Making a Victoria Sponge Cake

I was visiting my friend recently and she showed me how to make a Victoria Sponge cake, which is one of my favorite British desserts.  This cake is named after Queen Victoria who favored it during her afternoon tea breaks.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Sieve 12oz self raising flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder

add 8 oz margarine (do not use the light version) at room temperature

Add 10 sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt

Beat 4 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or essence (do not use flavoring)

add 90 ml of milk

Lightly fold all ingredients and then beat for 2 minutes

Batter should be thick and very creamy

Lightly grease 2 -- 9 inch pans and add parchment paper to the bottom

Place batter into cake pans and spread it out evenly

bake 30-40 minutes if the cake springs back with lightly touched it is done
(Don't use the tooth pick test as it is not as reliable)

Allow cakes to cool in pans about 5 minutes.  Don't leave them in the pans too long

Next step to make the cream frosting.

Add 4 oz butter

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

cream together can add vanilla if you like but not necessary

Find good quality jam either raspberry or strawberry.

On one half of the cake spread jam

On the other cake spread butter cream icing

Place the two cakes together

Lightly sift powder sugar on top or leave it plain

Now enjoy this delicious cake with a cup of tea!  My friend says this cake batter can easily be adapted to make other cakes by adding flavoring like chocolate or coffee.  If you are interested in finding more recipes check out her new blog Transatlantic Tattler.  I have tried several of her recipes and they always turn out great!!!

UK Christmas Cake Part 2

In November I made a UK Christmas cake.  You can find the initial post here, along with the recipe.

Here is how it came out of the oven

The cake requires requires feeding;)  I poked several holes in the top using a wooden skewer

I added about 2 or 3 tablespoons of Brandy to the cake.  I did this 2X while the cake was in storage.  Allowing approximately 2-3 weeks between each feeding:)

Knowing the cake was just too big for my family to eat,so  I cut the cake in half, frosted it, and sent one half back to the states to my mother and father.  I am hoping it gets to them by Christmas or New Year!

So this is half of the cake placed on a aluminum wrapped cutting board because I don't own a cake platter:( 

Take a small jar of jam and microwave it for 20 seconds to liquified
it 

Using a pastry brush wipe the jam all over the cake this acts as a glue for the marzipan icing

You will need 2 types of cake covering

First is Marzipan--needs to be rolled out on parchment paper use a little confectioner  sugar so it doesn't stick to the paper

Carefully placed the marzipan on to the cake

Carefully cover the cake making sure there are no folds in the marzipan -- carefully cut off any extra around the cake.  Don't cut to close to the cake as the icing will raise a little exposing the cake.

Now bring out the Regal icing

Roll it out on Parchment paper

Carefully place onto the Christmas cake --smooth side up.

Once again carefully cover the cake making sure there are no creases or folds in the icing

Cut any excess icing away at a slight angle

Icing is completed

Now is time to decorate.  I chose to use a pretty green ribbon.  Unfortunately the one I sent my mother  was without a ribbon as I hadn't one available in the house, sorry MOM

I need to work on my bow a bit more--but you get the idea:)

I will carefully wrap up my cake in foil until Christmas and then wait till Christmas which is in 4 days:)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!!!!

I will be taking some time off from blogging to spend with my family, see you in the New Year!

Hoar Frost arrives

I have never seen this phenomenon in the States although I am sure some areas have it.   Hoar Frost is a deposit of ice crystals that form on grass, trees, and anything else outside making the area looked like a dusting of snow.  It happens when the air is extremely humid but also extremely still--essentially, it's a freezing fog.  We'd seen it in movies like "Narnia", but always thought that it was a Hollywood creation and didn't really look like that, but it does!

If you look closely you can see the ice crystals.  The kids and I woke up to this beautiful sight in the neighborhood and went out to explore and take pictures.

Our entire neighborhood is covered in ice crystals

1/2 inch thick in some places

leaves are covered

grass

This was the neatest to see spider webs along the garden wall

I get the sense we have a lot of spiders in our backyard

This is my garden netting, it is usually green

bushes covered in ice

My camera couldn't get really close up pictures of the crystals but it was so interesting to examine them with the kids.