Orange Blossomwater Scones

After recently being sent a bottle of Nielsen Massey Orange Blossom Water to try & being wife to a man that loves good, simple baking, I dug out my trusty, basic scone recipe and set about making him a batch of scones.

225g Self raising flour

Pinch salt

50g Butter, cold & cubed quite small.

25g Caster sugar

50g Sultanas

1 Egg (medium sized)

5ml Nielsen Massey Orange Blossom Water

1 Medium sized orange

100ml Greek yoghurt

1. Heat your oven to 220C

2. Rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Grate the zest from the orange and stir into the flour with the sugar and sultanas.

4. Lightly beat the egg to break the yolk.  Reserve 1tbs to glaze the scone tops.

5. Squeeze the juice from the orange.

6. In a measuring jug, put the egg, orange juice, orange blossom water and enough Greek yoghurt to make 150ml.  Mix together thoroughly.

7. Add the yoghurt & orange mixture to the dry ingredients and work together gently until it just forms a ball.

8. Gently knead the mixture on a lightly floured board.

9. Lightly roll out to a thickness of 1cm.

10. Cut out using a 6.5cm circular cutter and place onto a greased baking tray.

11. Re-roll any trimmings and cut out more scones.

12. Glaze the scone tops with the reserved egg, being careful not to allow it to dribble down the sides.

13. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown on top.

14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

The lighter you handle the scone dough, the better your results will be.  Mix the wet and dry ingredients together gently, knead the dough lightly and roll out carefully.

Perfect sandwiched together with some Roddas Clotted Cornish Cream and strawberry jam.

My husband's verdict on these scones? Let's just say they didn't last long after the first bite! 

I was sent a bottle of Nielsen Massey Orange Blossom Water free of charge.  I was under no obligation to either use it, develop a recipe or to give it a positive review.

Apple & Sultana Chutney with a Chilli Kick

My basic apple & sultana chutney with a little bit of a 'kick'.  This is great to cook if you need to clear your head.  Remember to put the extractor fan on high though!

1.5kg Cooking Apples, cored and finely diced; no need to peel
750g Light Muscovado sugar
500g Sultanas
1 Medium white onion, finely chopped
1 Medium red onion, finely chopped
10ml Mustard seeds
10ml Ground Ginger
10ml Ground coriander
10ml Garlic powder
10ml dried Chilli flakes
5ml Salt
300ml Cider vinegar
300ml Red Wine Vinegar
150ml Balsamic Vinegar

1. In a large, heavy based pan, combine all the ingredients.

2. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes, stirring frequently until thick & syrup-like.  Remember to keep it moving every minute or so as it gets thicker to prevent it sticking to the pan.

3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a while.
4. Decant into hot, clean, sterilised jars and seal.

5. Store in a cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks for the flavours to develop fully before enjoying.

Mincemeat from mum's 1958 book

This recipe comes from one of the two recipe books my mum has given to me recently.

It was originally gifted to her and dad in 1958.  I aim to try many of these tried and tested recipes in an attempt to bring back good, old fashioned, baking.  As this is a vintage recipe, I've chosen to use imperial measurements first with the metric equivalent bracketed afterwards.

1lb Raisins (450g)

1lb Currants (450g)

1lb Sultanas (450g)

1lb Apples (450g)

1/2lb Candied peel (225g)

1/2lb Suet (225g)

Pinch salt

1/2lb Demerara sugar (225g)

1tsp Cinnamon (5ml)

2 Lemons, rind and juice

2tbs Orange marmalade (30ml)

1/4 pint Rum (125ml)

1. Coarsely chop the dried fruit and place into a large mixing bowl.

2. Peel and core the apples then chop finely. Add to the bowl.

3. Add the candied peel, suet, salt, sugar, cinnamon, rind and juice of the lemons, the marmalade and the rum.

4. Mix thoroughly together.

5. Place into sterilised jars and seal.

6. Store in a cool, dark place.

This recipe will make approx. 6lb of mincemeat and if kept in the right conditions should keep for a year.

Brandy may be used instead of rum.

Baked Cheesecake

10 Digestive biscuits, crushed

65g Unsalted butter, melted

500g Fromage frais

500g Philadelphia cheese

4 Eggs

1 Lemon, zested & juiced

25g Plain flour

100g Caster sugar

75g Sultanas 

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C.

2. Grease & line the base of a round 23cm/9" loose bottomed tin.

3. Mix the biscuits & butter together and press firmly into the bottom of your tin.

4. Place in the fridge to cool while you prepare the filling.

5. Whisk together the Fromage frais, Philadelphia, eggs, lemon zest and juice, flour & sugar until fully combined and smooth.

6. Stir in the sultanas to evenly distribute.

7. Remove the tin from the fridge and pour your filling in to it.  Smooth the top.

8. Place in your oven for 50-55 minutes until you can see the edges just starting to brown and there is still the slightest wobble in the centre.

9. Switch off the oven, leaving the cheesecake inside.

10. Leave the door slightly open and leave the cheesecake in there to cool completely.

11. Remove the cold cheesecake from the oven and transfer it to a serving plate.

You can serve this on its own or with puréed apricots or cherries poured over the top.

If you prefer a chocolate version of this, then omit the lemon juice, zest and sultanas. Replace them with 2tbs of cocoa combined with 2tbs water.

Sour Cherry Chutney

5ml Rapeseed oil

1 onion, finely sliced

1 x 350g jar Morello cherries in syrup

50ml Balsamic vinegar

50g Sultanas

1 star anise

1. Heat the oil and gently cook the onions for 10 minutes until transparent but not coloured.

2. Add the cherries (including the syrup), balsamic vinegar, sultanas and star anise.

3. Bring to the boil then simmer for 45 minutes until reduced and thickened.

4. Serve warm as an accompaniment to pork or duck.

You can also allow this to cool and serve with cheese, pâté or cooked meats.

Spiced apple & sultana cake

9oz (250g) Plain Flour
2tsp (15ml) Baking powder

½tsp (2.5ml) Salt

1½tsp (7.5ml) mixed spice
4oz (110g) Granulated sugar
1 egg
5 floz (140ml) Milk
3floz (90ml) Corn oil
6oz (170g) Apple, chopped
1oz (25g) Sultanas
1oz (25g) Walnuts, chopped (optional)
2-3tbs (30-45ml) Soft brown sugar
Icing:
Juice of one lemon
Icing sugar


Oven temperature 190C / Gas Mark 5

Ok let's cook!

1. Into a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, mixed spice and sugar together.

2. In a separate bowl/jug mix your egg, milk and oil.

3. Mix together until just combined.  Do not beat and don't worry if there's a small lump or two.  Just make sure that all the flour mix is combined.

4. Stir in the chopped apple & sultanas.

5. Don't worry that this mixture seems a little dry as the apples will release some liquid as they're cooked.

6. Pour your mixture into a greased traybake tin (or disposable foil traybake tray).  Alternatively, divide between 12 large muffin cases/wraps.

7. Sprinkle the top with the walnuts (if using) and then the sugar.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked.

9. Allow to cool and then mix the lemon juice with enough icing sugar to make quite a thick icing.  Drizzle randomly over the top of the cooled cakes.

These can be served still warm from the oven or left to cool.  They're also lovely warm topped with custard or ice cream.

Rosie's Chocolate Tiffin

This recipe is incredibly moreish and really quite fattening, but it's absolutely gorgeous too!  Don't worry about buying expensive ingredients because if your house is anything like mine; it won't last very long when it's made, and to be honest, I've tried making it with branded ingredients and it really doesn't taste much different either, so basically it can be a cheap and cheerful treat!

The ingredients list for this is great too as they're all pretty much approximate values.  No need to be precise with your measuring, which means it's great to make with the kids.

3/4 (ish) large pack of Digestive biscuits
2-3oz (BIIIIG handful) of sultanas
2 x 100g bars of milk chocolate
1 x 100g bar of dark chocolate
3oz butter
2tbs golden syrup

Topping:
2 x 100g bars of milk chocolate

Foil tray bake - they normally come in a pack of 4 for about £1.50 ish as they're disposable.


1. Place the digestives into a large bowl.

2. Crush roughly, leaving a few larger pieces to add 'crunch' to your Tiffin.

3. In a saucepan, place your 200g of milk chocolate and 100g plain chocolate, the butter and the golden syrup.  Melt GENTLY over a low heat, stirring occasionally.

4. Meanwhile add the sultanas to the crushed biscuits.

5. Mix thoroughly.

6. Stir the ingredients in the saucepan to ensure they're thoroughly mixed while heating.

7. When the chocolate is melted, add this mixture to your biscuit and sultana mix in your bowl.  Mix well  until it's all combined.

8. Pour the mixture into your tray and spread out to an even depth (don't worry about a perfectly smooth surface; life's too short to worry!)

9.  Leave to cool while you melt the remaining 200g of milk chocolate GENTLY.

10. Pour the chocolate topping over your tiffin base and cool until set.

11. These foil trays are marked 3 across by 5 down but I find if you cut it into 15 pieces it's far too rich, so I tend to cut each square of Tiffin in half diagonally to give 30 pieces.

Again, enjoy my recipe and if you do follow it and like the result, then please return and leave me a comment.

Thanks


Rosie
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