April 14, 2006

An empty pantry


The Easter holidays have begun! I got up this morning all enthusiastic and ready to whip up delicious goodies. I jumped into a refreshing shower and made my way downstairs to suddenly realize, I don't have much to work with! I have a love-hate relationship with not having enough ingredients and groceries to cook. I hate it because it limits my options on what I can do and I love it because it gives me a chance to improvise, be innovative and let my lazy ol' brain work my best talent; creativity.
Imagine this...you have no eggs, no bread, barely enough milk to fill 1 tiny bowl, no meat, no green vegetables, 1/2 cup plain flour, and a teeny weeny chunk of butter. What are you going to make for breakfast to feed 3 hungry girls? At the beginning, I was thinking porridge or soup; but it is afterall the first day of our Easter holidays and I wanted to make something fun to give it a yummy kick start!
I measured the cup of milk and decided...yea...I could probably make scones with the half bag of self raising flour i had left. If you are wondering what a scone is...click here.
Here is my personal recipe for quick and light scones;
85g butter chopped (fairly soft)
3 cups self raising flour
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp powdered cinnamon
handful of chopped raisins (if u like)
3/4 cup buttermilk (or ordinary milk soured with a squeeze of lemon juice)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Mix the first 3 ingredients with your fingers until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add in the raisins and cinnamon and make a well in the middle of flour mixture, gradually pour in the milk a little at a time, and knead until the mixture forms a soft dough. Lay it out on a lightly floured surface and knead until well combined. Roll and flatten the dough out and cut them into (circles for the traditional scones) or bunny shapes like i have done. (don't bother worrying too much about them being absolutely flat and level, scones aren't meant to look neat like cookies, when they rise, they resemble tiny round bread/muffins). Lay them on a baking tray and bake in the oven until the dough rises and its surface turns a light brown shade; should take approximately 15-20 minutes. If it was done well, your nose will probably be able to tell you when theyre done ;).
To eat; cut a scone through the middle. Spread a good layer of berry jam (add fresh berries on top if you have any) and top with a tiny dollop of whipped cream. Sandwich and serve hot. Dust with icing sugar if you have a sweet tooth. Scrumptious!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

dear yin aren't scones supposed to be round. yours look a bit ike eclairs. mom

Su-Yin -Décorateur said...

they are made with a scone recipe mom. It is supposed to be an easter breakfast; thats y i made them shaped like bunny rabbits!

Anonymous said...

i heard tht ure not supposed to use warm butter for scones and also that kneading is a big no-no because u get tough scones

Anonymous said...

they are adorable! anonymous is a stupid no-it-all..and mom needs glasses

Anonymous said...

You are only limited to your imagination, I think the scones as bunnies for easter are so cute!it is an awesome idea, my kids will love them. Thanks!