The Best Cream Scones - Red Tractor, September

The tradition of afternoon teas comprised of scones with jam and cream and a pot of tea makes for fond memories.  I was brought up with this tradition, and even now, it feels like a special and genteel affair.

Scones are a staple at every country show (and the very urban shows!), both as part of the baking competition and served by the reliable ladies at the CWA Pavilion.  They are also the bane of every home economics student - in a less enlightened era, all the girls at my school had to do "home ec" in Grade 8, and I hated it.  Every high tea tray in Australia also features scones, regardless of the other components of the tea tray.

I have swapped the tea for coffee a year or so ago, but I still love good scones (preferably served warm) with jam and cream.  

This month's Red Tractor calendar recipe pays homage to this tradition by serving up a recipe for The Best Cream Scones, by implication to be served with a pot of piping hot tea:

I cannot confirm whether these are "the best" cream scones, but I can confirm that they are very good indeed.  I am not much of a scone maker, and my scones have a nasty tendency to be flat, but these rose a treat - high and fluffy, nicely browned on top, with plenty of surface area for lashings of jam and cream.  They were just perfect in my eyes.

To make The Best Cream Scones, you will need:

4 cups self-raising flour (or plain flour dosed with baking powder, like me)
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1 1/4 cups thickened cream
1 1/4 cups water

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Place all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and knead together to combine.  Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and roll or push out to a 3cm thickness.  (Note - I needed to add some more flour, as my dough was too sticky to cut.  There is no exact science - you need to do it by feel.)

Using a round biscuit cutter or a sharp edged glass, cut as many scones out of the dough as possible, pushing back together and repeating with any leftover dough (but be careful not to work too much as it will make the scones tough).

Place the scones on a lined baking tray, and brush the tops with milk.  Bake the scones in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove the scones from the oven and wrap them in a tea towel so that they stay soft.

Serve the scones with jam of your choosing and whipped cream.

TWD - Devil's Food Wafflets with Chocolate Sauce

For Tuesday with Dorie this week, we are breaking out the chocolate for breakfast with Devil's Food Wafflets with Chocolate Sauce.  Dorie says that waffles are revered in Europe and not just eaten for breakfast, but breakfast time was the most convenient juncture for me to make these wafflets.

To make waffles, you need some kind of waffle iron.  I have a stovetop waffle pan somewhere, but since I moved house earlier this year, it has been securely stashed as I rarely use it.   I was not in the frame of mind to be retrieving the waffle pan from its hidden location.  However, I remembered an episode of Jamie's Christmas where Jamie Oliver made waffles outside on a griddle pan.  Perfect!!  I could easily access my griddle pan, so I used this as my "waffle iron".  I think it worked pretty well: 

I only made a quarter of the recipe, which still yields two serves of waffles and sauce for one person.  I topped the waffles and sauce with chopped strawberries.  I thought that using strawberries was pretty brave of me, given that there are currently persons unknown in Australia who think it is quite funny to bury sewing needles inside of strawberries and watch people on the news maim themselves permanently when they unknowingly ingest  the needles.  However, my strawberries were just gorgeous and needle-free.

These wafflets were good, but I don't usually make waffles, so they probably won't be popping  up regularly in my  house.

To see what the others made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

Fonda Mexican and Gontran Cherrier, Hawthorn

I had wanted to try Fonda for a long time, just because I dig the name.  "Fonda" automatically brings to mind the mighty Fonda acting dynasty.  However, the restaurants are actually named "fonda" because in Mexico, a fonda is a family home that has opened to the community as a restaurant. Neat, huh?

The Hawthorn branch of Fonda is conveniently located both close to tram and train lines, so it is quite easy to get there.  It is set in a bright, open space, with plenty of light and visibility of the bar from all angles:  

We were greeted by a friendly staff member on arrival and promptly seated.  On learning that we were first timers, the host explained the menu to us.  Some of the dishes at Fonda are designed for sharing, while others are single serves designed for one person.

As a starter, Tim ordered a chicken taco with corn, guacamole, and pico de gallo ($7.50):

For myself, I just love corn on the cob but rarely cook it myself (because I batch cook and freeze things),  so I could not go past the Chargrilled Corn, with chipotle aioli, queso and lime ($6):

The corn was divinely spicy and just melted in the mouth - I could have easily gone seconds and thirds.  However, main courses were to come, so I resisted temptation.

For main, Tim ordered a Mex-Bim-Bap salad with pork, guacamole, baby spinach, shaved cabbage, radish and smoked corn, among other ingredients ($20):

It looked delicious, but as the bowls all contained quinoa, I was not going to touch them with a barge bowl given my sensitivity to quinoa.

I chose the much safer option for my gut of a pulled pork quesadilla with baby spinach, chilli, lime and pineapple salsa ($16):

It was delicious.  I am having a real pineapple renaissance at the moment, so I loved the salsa.

If you wanted more chilli sauce, there was a mild sauce called the Jane Fonda, or if you really wanted some kick, there was the F#*k You sauce:

I tried both and liked them :)

To wash it all down, I ordered a Flying Brick cider ($9):

For dessert, we swapped continents and went to Gontran Cherrier, Artisan Boulanger, for Tim's favourite, an Almond Croissant:

This was a huge though delicious croissant, so I am glad that we usually share dessert.

Of course, no pastry is complete without a coffee: 

Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn has some great food venues, and these are just two that we'll definitely be going back to.

Fonda Mexican

651 Glenferrie Rd

Hawthorn VIC 3122

Ph: (03) 8686 7360

Gontran Cherrier

696 Glenferrie Rd

Hawthorn VIC 3122

Ph: (03) 9915 8600

Donna Hay's Candied Apple Cake

In the 100th (and last) edition of Donna Hay magazine, there is an entire section of beautiful Enchanted Garden cakes.  Long time readers will know that I adore beautiful cakes, and this edition was perfectly timed so that I could choose one of the cakes for my birthday cake.

I selected the Candied Apple Cake, with gorgeous slices of skin on, candied apple adorning the  sides of the cake.  On making this cake, and reading the other recipes in the Enchanted Garden section, all of the cakes contain large quantities of plain flour with only bicarbonate of soda as the raising agent.  My cakes were rather flat and dense, and I am wondering whether they are meant to be that way, or whether there is a misprint.  In any event, my finished cake was only one apple high, whereas the one in the magazine is a towering three apples high. I was also not enamoured with the texture of the cake.  I would be interested in hearing the experiences of anyone else has made these cakes and whether they thought there was sufficient raising agent in them.

The only candied apple element of this cake is the candied apple slices on the outside.  I tried to step up the candied apple flavour by reserving the gorgeous rose pink syrup from boiling the apple slices and brushing it over the cut surfaces of the cake, and putting two tablespoons in the icing.  I am not sure that it helped much to boost that flavour but it was worth a shot.  

If I made this cake again, I would also (a) use a different base cake recipe that is less dense; and (b) put some apple either through the cake or between the cake layers so as to give more prominence to the apple flavour.

Nonetheless, I think this was a pretty cake, and my friends said that they enjoyed it:

If you would like to have a go at making this cake, you will need:

Cake

2 cups water

250g chopped butter

4 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

2/3 cup almond meal

4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Candied apple slices

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

3 red apples, thinly sliced lengthways on a mandolin

Icing

375g chopped butter

3 cups sifted icing sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Grease and line three x 18cm round cake tins.

Put the water and butter into a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter is melted.

Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, almond meal and sugar into a large bowl and stir to combine.  Next, add the lightly beaten eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter mixture and stir until smooth.

Divide the mixture evenly between the three cake tins and bake in the preheated oven for approximately one hour or until cooked through.  Remove the cakes from the oven but leave the oven on so you can make the candied apple slices.  Cool in the tins for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.  

To make the candied apple slices, put the sugar and water into a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil.  Cook the apple slices in the syrup, in three batches, for 2 minutes each.  Remove the apple slices from the syrup with tongs and place flat on lined baking trays.  Bake in the 160 degree oven for 20 minutes, then allow to cool on the trays.  I forgot about one batch of apples and boiled them for 15 minutes - they made the most devine crisp apple chips once baked.

For the icing, place the icing sugar, butter and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until pale and creamy.

Now comes the construction part!  Trim and halve each of the cakes. (At this point, you can brush the cut side of the cakes with reserved apple syrup, if desired.)  Put the bottom cake layer on a cake plate or cake board, and spread with half a cup of the icing.  Repeat for the remaining layers.  Spread the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake, and press the apple slices into the sides of the cake.

Slice and serve!  Donna says this cake feeds 8-10, but the cake is massive, so I would say it could feed twice that number, cut into thin slices.

Phillippa's Sausage Rolls

Who doesn't love an Aussie sausage roll?  Spicy mince, flaky pastry and tomato sauce (of course!) merge to make one delicious, popular treat.

I recently made the sausage rolls from Phillippa's Home Baking, which use rough puff pastry and a mixture of beef and pork mince.  For those not from Melbourne, Phillippa's is a bakery institution established by Phillippa Grogan, famed for its breads and other baked goods. 

These sausage rolls did not disappoint - they had flaky pastry, and were just on the right side of spicy and juicy:

Have I tempted you to make some sausage rolls for yourself?  If so, you will need:

Rough puff:

225g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
170g cold butter, cubed
125ml chilled water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Put the flour and salt into a bowl.  Add the butter, water and lemon juice.  Use your hands to mix the ingredients together into a rough dough, then wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

Take the dough from the fridge and roll into a rectangle about 20cm x 30cm, with the edges being as straight as possible.  Fold one short end of the dough into the middle of the rectangle, then fold the doubled over part of the dough over the top of the remaining third of the dough so that you have a folded piece of pastry measuring 20cm x 10cm.  Wrap in plastic film and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

Repeat the rolling and folding process with the pastry three more times.  You now have ready to use rough puff pastry!

Sausage rolls: 

80g fresh breadcrumbs
1 brown onion, chopped
100ml tomato sauce (ketchup)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt 
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
350g beef mince
350g pork mince
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped thyme or sage
1 x rough puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Process the breadcrumbs in a food processor to make medium sized breadcrumbs, and place into a large bowl.

Put the onion, tomato sauce, mustard, salt and pepper into the food processor and blitz to a puree, then spoon into the bowl with the breadcrumbs.  Add the mince, parsley and herbs to the bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.  Place into a covered bowl and chill.

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.  Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicon mats.

Lightly flour your work bench, then roll out the rough puff pastry into a rectangle measuring 48cm x 30cm.  Cut the pastry into three pieces measuring 30cm x 16cm each.

Take the sausage meat mixture and divide into three even pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball, then roll  each ball into a sausage measuring the length of the long end of the pastry.  Place one sausage on the edge of one long end of a pastry strip, brush the opposite long end of the pastry strip with water, then roll the pastry, starting with the sausage edge, to enclose the sausage in the pastry. Press the edges of the pastry join lightly with a fork to seal.

Repeat for each of the other two pastry strips and the remaining sausage mixture.  Cut each long sausage roll into the desired size using a sharp knife (I cut each into quarters for party sized sausage rolls).

In a small bowl, beat the egg and milk together with a fork, then using a pastry brush, brush this egg wash mixture over the top of the sausage rolls.  

Place the sausage rolls on the lined trays and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through and golden on top. 

Serve the sausage rolls hot with lashings of tomato sauce.

TWD - Basque Macarons

For Tuesday with Dorie this week, I chose to make Basque Macarons.  These are biscuits made with egg whites, almond meal, sugar, cinnamon and salt.

I spooned the batter onto the trays for baking, as I found that the batter just stuck in a cookie scoop.

The resulting cookies look quite good, despite not being as showy as their colourful Parisian cousins, and they taste delicious.  I think two biscuits sandwiched together with icecream would be perfect.

To see what everyone else made this week, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.  

Double-Buckwheat Double-Chocolate Cookies

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Double-Buckwheat Double-Chocolate Cookies.  These cookies contain buckwheat flour and kasha (the double buckwheat), along with cocoa and chopped chocolate (the double chocolate).  As Dorie states, the buckwheat adds a complementary nutty flavour to the chocolate.

These cookies are rather expensive to make as a once-off, as buckwheat flour is only available  at specialty stores.  Kasha is basically non-existent here and I just got blank stares when I asked for it.  However, an Internet search revealed that kasha is just toasted or roasted buckwheat groats, so I roasted my own (40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, in case you are interested).

These cookies are liberally sprinkled with sanding sugar and salt to enhance the flavour and appearance.

The cookies can be made free form by rolling and cutting or, as I chose to do, by making logs from the dough and slicing into rounds.  They don't spread much in the oven, which is a good thing.

The resulting cookies are quite good, and the kasha does add an interesting crunch which  no-one will identify as the mystery ingredient (doubly assured in a country where kafka does not even seem to be known at speciality stores).

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.