Windswept Beaches Under Blue Skies and Baking !

Like everything Creative in life Food and Cooking has its trends. In the pro kitchen an artistic swipe of Pea puree across the plate has been replaced by a Pea foam or is it the other way round ? I Carnot remember . Baby Vegetables rule, where at one time they came in a side dish now they are placed on the plate just resting against a potato garnish with spirit level like precision with a scattering of suitable micro Herbs !
In the real world of the home cook I have been amazed by the amount of Baking programmes that seem to be on every channel. Are we going back to baking like your Gran used to do ? or is it just us as a public loving watching someone else's baking disasters on Reality TV programmes like The Great British Bake off . Lets face it the X factor and Big Brother TV programme format is very addictive when you start watching them.
According to my Culinary research the upsurge in baking is down to the economic climate.We reach for things of comfort. We remember times when we were children and watching Grandma bake and letting us lick the left overs of cakey gooey mix or the sweet and buttery flavour of the Icing topping which used to cling onto the walls of the porcelain mixing bowl. Then when you had placed a few Smarty sweets on top of the icing that mounted the soft moist sponge ( Which was mixed usually by hand using a wooden spoon) there was always a few left for you to nibble on as an added bonus.
I have over the years collected a lot of cookery books. In amongst those their are very few Baking books. Why ? I am not sure really. Maybe my type of cooking is more of a passionate explosion of creative culinary genius...a mad scientist as you will dropping this into his pot hoping if it explodes it with set off a Dr Stephen Hawking's like formula of culinary deliciousness ! I am an Expressionist painter type of a Chef splashing this colour of paint and that colour onto a blank canvas and hoping in that mad moment a million dollar masterpiece or dish will be made ! OK back to baking ! ha ha !
I guess what I am trying to say as a Cook especially at home I don't really want to get the scales out and weigh this out then that out I just want to make it up as I go a long. If it needs more of something else adding after I have tasted it then I just add it. I know this is not possible all the time when baking so I when I bake I do weigh...most of the time !
The top 3 baking books I have are simply Rachel Allen's "Bake" which is great for Sweet and Savoury things I also have Nigella's "How to be a Domestic Goddess"  which causes much amusement and teasing from big hairy arsed Chefs (And that's just the female Chefs I know) when I get it out to do her Chocolate Brownie recipe from it in the kitchen.
"Here Kev you in touch with your feminine side !" ha ha ah
"Shut it and get back to burning your chutney !" That usually wipes the smile of there faces.
The other book which in my opinion is the greatest basic baking book in the world ever bar none is the mighty tomb that is "The Bero Home Recipe Book."

The Book's first edition was launched in 1923 and was produced by a wholesale grocery firm from Newcastle to help promote the use of Self-raising Flour which was a much under used product of theirs. From there it grew from a small 19 pages into what is now its 41st edition and some 80 pages plus.
As baking books go its provides you with great basic recipe formula's to follow. You just add your imagination by adding any ingredients you want to. Their recipe for rich scones is the one I follow all the time. It works every time and that's what I want. It also is a little forgiving if I am less than focused shall we say when I weigh out the ingredients.

Plain Scones for about 6-8

In a bowl put 225g of Self raising Flour, a pinch of salt, 25g of caster sugar and 50g of margarine. Now rub the margarine into the flour and salt and sugar until it is well combined and you have a breadcrumb like texture to the mix.

If you want to add some raisins and sultanas at this point to the mix to make the traditional fruit scones then do so.

Now place 1 medium egg into a measuring jug and "Beat it" as Micheal Jackson would say. Now pour enough milk into the egg mix to make it up to 150mls of volume. 

OK add about 125mls of the egg/milk liquid to your bowl and combine until you have a firm dough.

Now roll out your Scone dough and using a Scone cutter cut out your scones. Generally the depth of the scones should be the depth of your scone cutter. Next brush with the remaining egg/milk mix as this will act as a glaze for your scones. Now place them in the oven at 180 degrees C and bake for about 12-18 minutes. They are ready when you take them out of the oven and place a fork into the centre of the scone and it comes out clean and devoid of goo !

Cheesey Chevi's Cheese Scones (Well courtesy of the Book of Be-Ro)

You are supposed to cut down the margarine for making Cheese scones as the Cheese you add has fat in it so doing so compensates for this. Me being an Mad Scientist stroke Expressionist painter of a baker I don't. Yes hello my name is Mr Carnot be Arsed ! I am sure if I do this my Cheese scones would taste better but I am pretty happy with what I get from this recipe so boo sucks to you Mr Baker !

I basically use the same method as for the fruit scones only I don't put the sugar or fruit in it. I rub to the breadcrumb stage then add 100 gms of extra mature Cheddar cheese. Look for the number 6 on the packet that should be the strength of the cheese and that's top end tanginess !

I also add a good dollop of Dujon Mustard and mix the lot till well combined. Yes you can use English Mustard but as much as it pains me to say I really think the French do mustard better than us and Dujon Mustard is a great kitchen store cupboard weapon ! Oo la la !

Now add about 140 mls of the egg/milk mix and combine well to the dough ball stage.

You can use the round scone cutter if you want but I sometimes just use what I can find.
Now egg wash the tops if you want but its not totally necessary as 3/4 of the way through the cooking process I take the scones out and quickly sprinkle some cheese on top of them to finish them off. I find if you put the cheese on at the start it just burns and is not so nice. Oven settings and times are the same for the fruity ones.

3/4 cooked Cheese Scones.

That Kev is a Work of Art.......Genius !

Sexy Rich plain scones too !

I don't care what anyone says but if you don't eat these Scones within 20 minutes of them coming out of the oven you might as well chuck them in the bin and make some more or feed them to the birds. They never taste the same to me when they are cooler. I love the moistness of them when they come out of the oven. Yes let them rest for a few minutes but dive in soon as after that !

Plain scones with Jam, cream and a snow shower of icing sugar....yum yum......Enjoy !