Our Friends in the North

Well, actually, a scone recipe from the Hairy Bikers, Si and Dave, who are from the North and seem very friendly to boot. And its got a Canadian theme (sort of) with lots of lovely maple syrup. I'm putting up the recipe as is, but do beware with the liquid quantities - it can all go a bit gooey, so you might want to go a bit careful when it comes to mixing the wet and dry ingredients.

Cup conversions are courtesy of Delia Smith, and this recipe should make you about 12 scones.

300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
100g (1 cup) rolled oats (oatmeal/porridge oats)
100g (approx 2/3 cup) wholemeal flour
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
160g (aprox 3/4 cup) unsalted butter
100g (1 cup) chopped walnuts
125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
150ml (approx 2/3 cup) maple syrup

Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (350F, 180C)
Mix the self-raising flour, wholemeal flour, rolled oats, caster sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl
Rub the butter into the flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
Fold in the chopped walnuts
Pour the buttermilk and maple syrup into a separate bowl and mix thoroughly
Slowly add the buttermilk & syrup mix to the dry mix to form a dough
Roll the dough into a log shape and cut into 3cm (1.25") rounds
OR
Roll out the dough onto a floured surface to a depth of 3cm (1.25") and cut out the scones
Place the scones onto a greased baking tray
Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until risen and golden brown

Eat warm with butter and a nice cup of tea (or coffee)

Enjoy!

Cogs and Cookies!

In celebration of the fact that I finally remembered my password for the blog, we'd like to share a rather lovely cookie recipe with you. It’s taken from the back of a packet of Dove's Farm Organic Spelt Flour, and its quick and tasty (and actually quite Romanesque, what with the honey, cinnamon and spelt). Perfect for dunking (if you like that kind of thing), do enjoy!

Dove's Honey and Cinnamon Cookies

200g wholegrain spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g honey (we like Chain Bridge honey 'cos its good to support local suppliers)
100g sunflower oil

Preheat your oven to gas mark 5 (190°C or 375°F)
Place the spelt flour, baking powder, cinnamon, honey and oil all together in a bowl.
Mix until a dough is formed
Place teaspoonfuls of the dough onto an oiled baking tray. Make sure you leave room around each one for it to expand
Bake for 8-12 minutes, until golden brown

Cakey Goodness

Taking a leaf out of Graham Walmsley's book (the upcoming "A Taste For Murder"), I've decided that it might be nice to pop some cake recipes up here for your perusal. Cake is vitally important to any Victorian game, as is tea. But I don't have any tea recipes, although should you find yourself in Toronto, there's a superb tea shop called All Things Tea we would highly recommend (especially their Belgian Chocolate one, its scrummy).

So, first recipe: This one is from the recipe sheet available from Heatherslaw Mill in Northumberland. Should you be in the area, the mill is well worth a visit and has a nice little shop selling all sorts of flour and cooking ingredients as well as the usual tourist tat. I've actually made this cake several times and its rather nice.

Heatherslaw's Carrot Cake:
Ingredients
6oz (170g) Heatherslaw wholemeal flour (although any good quality organic wholemeal will do)
4oz (115g) grated carrot
4oz (115g) margarine (or butter substitute, which usually tastes nicer)
4oz (115g) soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of milk
2.5 level teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, allegedly, but it does work very nicely in this cake)
Grated zest of half an orange
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C/325F/Gas mark 3
2. Sift baking powder, salt, cinnamon and flour into a small bowl, mix well and add the grated carrot. Mix again
3. Cream the margarine and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, then add the orange zest. (Try to resist eating the butter/sugar mix; my Nana always swore it was good for sore throats, but no matter how tempting, you need it for the cake)
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. Spoon in a little of the flour mixture to stop it from curdling. (To be on the safe side, I always add a little flour before I start adding the eggs, which I always crack into a cup to make sure they're fresh first)
4. Gradually mix in the rest of the flour, then add the milk a little at a time until the mixture is soft but not runny. (You may need more milk, or less, but be careful with this step or you'll end up with icky goop)
5. Place in a six-inch (approx. 15cm) cake tin which has been greased and lined with greaseproof paper
6. Bake at the above temperature for forty-five to sixty minutes. (To see if its cooked, insert a clean skewer in the centre of the cake: if it comes out clean, the cake is done; if there's cake mix on it, it needs a bit longer)
7. Cool on a wire rack, then scoff it.

You could add icing or butter-cream to the top, but that would make it very naughty indeed. I've never tried that, so I don't have a recipe for it. There is one here, though, but I've no idea how good it is. Apparently you can add flavourings to it instead of/as well as the vanilla; orange might be nice, say some Grand Marnier...

Enjoy!