Weather dependent - still delicious
August baking! It’s been weird weather, warm and sunny at times and then chilly and rainy, and the weather always affects what I choose to bake. Some recipes are just more summery in my mind. This month I made chocolate chip shortbread biscuits for church. I worked out that squashing the scopes of batter-dough on the baking tray made them spread more in the oven and therefore I got bigger biscuits. I’ve also mastered the art of remembering to mix most ingredients together in the food processor and then tipping it all into a bowl to hand-mix in the chocolate chips so that they remain whole and lovely. The biscuits were lovely and crumbly and certainly disappeared fast at church which is always a good sign. I remember to keep a few baked goods back for me and Anthony at home when I bake for church now, so that we get to taste all my baking.
Then, for myself and Anthony, I made fruit scones, such a summery dish. I have fond memories of eating scones at my home church where I grew up; I’ve still never tasted better. Cream teas, including scones with jam and cream, were a staple treat of my childhood. Again, I remembered to hand-mix in the raisins - the last time I made fruit scones I didn’t and the raisins ended up minced into tiny pieces in the food processor which isn’t the way at all. I managed to use the smaller cutter when preparing the first batch for baking and also realised once I was using the correctly-sized cutter that I wasn’t using enough dough so a few of the scones came out too small to slice in two. I got the knack of it eventually and soon had some big enough to slice. Hope I remember that more dough is needed next time. Maybe I could make double quantities so that I don’t get less scones as a result. They were very tasty, especially with seedless raspberry jam and clotted cream. Result.
