Changing times
Since my last entry I have returned to British shores. My
year in Amsterdam was up and now it is time to start a real career hunt (times
is hard though- we shall see what happens!) There were so many more things
that I wanted to write about the Netherlands yet I
came across a very boring and tedious issue in that I have no pictures. I had my camera stolen in January
meaning I could not take any more photos. Luckily my techy Megan was around to
fill in the picture gap but with her return back to the US of A I have been
picture-less, which does not make for interesting blog entries. My intention is
to keep them in the pipe line and in the mean time I have my smart phone back
with a fully working amazing camera. It is time to discover a Brit summer, and
for the first time since I was about 8 years old, we are actually having a real
life near tropical summer!
The beautiful scone
I think I mentioned earlier that my French hosts were in
love with the English scone and rather enjoyed a nibble on them for breakfast.
The traditional way, however, is to indulge in an afternoon tea with scones
probably around four in the afternoon such as the French gouter or quatre-heures
(see, we aren't that different after all!).
The cream tea or ‘Devonshire tea’ originated in the South
West of England, so Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. When foreign friends ask me
which part of England they should visit I always suggest this area: it is a pretty,
quaint and almost untouched part of our Isles, where there is a better than
average climate, thatched cottages, sunny beaches good enough for surfing and
very English cream teas. We have had a couple of brilliant family holidays down
there and without an ounce of guilt we ate a cream tea nearly every day.
There has been historical intrigue in Devon regarding the
cream tea. When looking through old manuscripts from Tavistock’s Benedictine
abbey dating back to the end of the Tenth Century, historians found that after a
Viking attack in 997AD, locals, as well as Ordulf Earl of Devon, rallied
together to rebuild the destroyed Abbey to which the grateful monks fed them ‘bread,
clotted cream and strawberry preserves’. Even though this is the earliest recorded evidence
of a cream tea and arguably does not prove its true origin, isn’t it just
awesome to imagine monks handing out scrummy offerings, which haven’t changed
very much in over 1,000 years, to fill the stomachs of and slowly gather morale
in a community facing hardship. Food is truly amazing.
For more information on the history of the cream tea, including
Cornish links to Afghanistan and Syria (pretty interesting) check out these
websites:
There are many variations on the cream tea, but in my opinion
there has to be a big pot of tea, a couple of scones with strawberry jam and
thick clotted cream on the side to spread freely on the scones as you please.
It is a little pick-me-up in the afternoon when the hunger
pangs appear well before tea (dinner) time, or even if you aren’t hungry it is
a slice of devilish decadence as what we experienced when holidaying down in
those parts.
Sunny, strawberry Saturday
With all of that tasty history stuff in mind, last weekend I was more than happy to help out at my
Grandma’s annual garden cream tea organised by her mission group. I would have
been happy to help out in any case, yet when slogging away trying to find the
career you so long for, nothing makes you feel more inspired than getting
involved and doing something worthwhile- also, with a year away from England I
was pretty desperate for some of Grandma’s scones, fresh strawberries and a cuppa
tea! 
The event was put together in aid of a children’s charity. It
cost £5 per person and included a scone with butter and jam, two shortbread
biscuits, a portion of strawberries and cream and a cute cup of tea. There was
a group of us volunteering plating up the food bits and pouring the teas. It
was a lot of fun, and of course, we got our very own cream tea at the end! All
of the scones were homemade and the shortbread too, making it a super, sunny,
strawberry Saturday. Over all the cream tea made £400, which will be put to very
good use.
Recipe time
I made scones a lot when in Amsterdam. The whole family
adored them and when the first Marks and Spencer in Amsterdam opened, Peggy was
straight down there in the first week purchasing scones and other treats. Home-made versions always look far more crazy and cool.
My favourite scones have raisins in them. Since forever I
have detested the weird glacé cherries, which can be put in scones and fruit cakes
of all kinds, therefore they are not appearing in this recipe. But of course
you can swap the raisins for cherries or just leave the scones plain- the
choice is yours.
Ingredients
§
225g self-raising flour
§
55g butter
§
25g caster sugar
§
150ml milk
§
1 egg beaten
§
Pinch of salt
§
Teaspoon baking powder
§
75g sultanas/raisins
How to make
1.
Turn the oven on to 220 degrees celcius and
grease a large baking tray.
2.
Mix the flour and salt together in a big bowl.
Take the butter out of the fridge, chop it up with a knife into little cubes
and add into the flour. Rub the butter and flour mixture together with your
fingers to make breadcrumbs- just like the first stage of making pastry.
3.
Measure out the sugar and raisins and stir it
into the breadcrumb-like mixture with a knife. If you would like more or less
raisins, cherries instead of raisins, or just to keep the scones plain, change
it accordingly.
4.
At this point it is time to add liquid, milk. Be
careful that you don’t add it all at once, you may not need the full amount
listed. A soft dough will form and at this point do not add any more liquid.
5.
Flour a clean surface and put the dough ball out
onto it and knead gently for a couple of minutes. After this, roll out the
scones to the thickness you want. I would suggest about 3 cm. Then cut out the
dough into scone circle shapes. You could take a glass rim, a cutter, or just
make it up with your hands- totally up to you and what you have available.
6.
Place the scones on the greased baking tray and
finish them off with a beaten egg wash.
7.
They will probably take 15mins to cook depending
on how big you made the scones so keep an eye on them!!
Happy Baking
Jo*
I have had quite a few cream teas in my time and consider myself something of a connoisseur. Regular visits to Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have enabled me to hone my taste buds. With this wealth of experience in mind can I recommend to a young lady starting out her travelling with taste buds the contrasting delights of savoury cream teas with a side of red onion relish. Yummy. Good look with your job hunt, I hope it's as successful as your culinary blog.
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