Secret ingredient scones

Yogurt scones

I am continuing with my theme of simple pleasures. The work with the bathroom is dragging on, it has been 6 weeks with out a shower and I'm pretty sure that even the flies are avoiding me now. I’ve been to too busy and when I've not been busy I've been too lethargic to do any "serious" cooking this week. I got big into cooking through being big into eating so I would consider myself a "eater" first and a "cook" second so my desire for that foodie hit is still very much present. 

These scones are rather lovely. Very light and fluffy, which demand to be eaten with raspberry jam, clotted cream and a cup of tea. Simple pleasure personified. To achieve these scones' full potential they would be best enjoyed on some quiet mid summer afternoon in the garden. I, however, did not have that luxury. I brought them to work to cheer everyone up. Even in a windowless staffroom in Fife they were still pleasant enough for me to have 3 at morning break. 

I made a less successful version of these scones at the weekend to welcome the awesome M. and her new man S. who were staying for the weekend. In my excitement of seeing them I forgot to add in bicarb and sugar. Doh! Still edible but this is a much better recipe. I thought about making another batch but 30 minutes later they were all gone with only a few crumbs left as evidence of their existence. It was a classic case of "it was the thought that counted". Nothing brings warmth and welcome to a home more than scones fresh out the oven.

The secret ingredient, in case you are wondering, is yogurt.

Yogurt scones with raspberry jam and extra yogurt (clotted cream is better)

Secret ingredient scones/yogurt scones/my best scone recipe

Makes about 20 mini scones (I think, to be honest I'm not sure as I ate a few before I had the chance to count - ma bad)

Oven set to 200 degrees

500g self-raising flour

80g butter at room temperature

6 dsp caster sugar

8 dsp natural yogurt

8dsp milk plus a little extra from painting on top

Sift the flour into a big mixing bowl.

Rub in the butter until there are no more lumps.

Add in the sugar and mix.

Add the yogurt and milk to the flour mixture and stir.

Use your hands to make it into a ball.

Roll out till approx 2-3 cm thick.

Cut out yer scones and brush them with a little extra milk.

Bake for 10-12 mins

Enjoy.

Yogurt pannacotta (mark 3)

Yogurt pannacotta with elsanta strawberries

Mark 1 - Eventually I won the war with pannacotta. I'm not too proud to admit that the first time I made it the pannacotta was inedible. Quite an achievement considering the fact I will pretty much eat anything, drawing the line at the  “stuff” that comes out of the work canteen. To be honest I’m not too sure what went wrong last time. I’ve gone over it in my head like some broken hearted teenage girl. Maybe I neglected it? Maybe I did it all wrong?  Realistically I think it failed because I because the buttermilk that I tried to make it with was off.  It smelt acrid. Horrible stuff. Seems so obvious now.

Mark 2 – I had tried to freeze cream. It didn’t work. When I defrosted it, it was lumpy. To quote the Smiths “I was bored before I even began”. Pannacotta mark 2 was a non-starter.

Mark 3 - Third time I tried it with yogurt it seemed to work better. I wanted to keep it fresher than just set cream. Persistence paid off and I was able to bring a nice summery dessert over to a friend's for dinner. I was smug; I had won the pannacotta war.

This dish is unbelievably easy (despite my previous attempts). It took only 10 minutes to make. It needs a chum to accompany it, fresh strawberries like these “elsantas” were tasty or some roasted rhubarb would work equally well.

Yogurt pannacotta serves 4

2 ½-3 sheets of gelatine (depending how wobbly you like it)

285ml carton of double cream

300ml plain yogurt (2 yeo valley pots)

1tsp vanilla paste (or 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out)

4 slightly heaped dessertspoons caster sugar

Add the gelatine to a bowl of cold water, leave to stand for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime gently heat the cream in a pan over a medium to low heat.

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Slowly increase the heat till the cream is just about to boil and has thickened.

It should be able to coat the back of a spoon.

Take the cream off the heat, squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add to the cream.

Stir until dissolved.

Leave the mixture to cool for a minute or two.

Be patient.

Add the yogurt and vanilla, stir in.

If you are a perfectionist, put the mixture through a sieve, otherwise pour the mixture into the 4 dishes.

Leave to cool for about an hour before putting in the fridge.

Once in the fridge they will take 2-3 hours to set.

To serve, dip the bottomof the pots in hot water for a couple of seconds.

Put a butter knife around the top of the pot to loosen.

Give it a gentle shake to get the air to the bottom and turnout on a plate.

Enjoy.