Lemon and Ginger Scones

Lemon and Ginger Scones have become my 'signature bake' they are easy to make and very tasty! First off Pre heat your oven to Gas mark 5  / 170 fan / 190 electric. I also generally tend to cook them on the middle shelf.

This recipe will make between 12-16 scones depending on the size.

12oz/340g of Plain flour
6oz/170g Butter / Stork works just fine
6oz/170g Sugar
1 Lemon Rind & juice
2 teaspoons of Ground Ginger
1 tablespoon of Baking Powder
4oz/113g of Raisins / Sultanas
3oz/85g Candid Peel (optional)
2oz/56g Chopped Fresh Ginger (small is pieces) or crystallized Ginger
1 Egg (large-ish)

In a bowl sieve Flour, Baking powder and Ground Ginger add lemon rind and mix with a spoon. Add butter and then begin to rub the fat into the flour using only your fingertips. Once lumps have become small add sugar (I normally give it a stir again with a spoon, just to distribute with though the mixture) 

Add Raisin, Candid Peel and Ginger also if i have some Glaze Cherries i may chop a few into the mix, most dried fruit will work with the scones, i have on occasion used dried Pineapple. Stir the fruit into the mix, add lemon juice and egg and mix together (i use my hand) You may not think that there is enough moisture to bind it into a dough, but you'll find there is, if not just add a dash of milk.

To measure out the scones i tend to use a heaped soup spoon, it seems to make a reasonable sized scone. Role the mix in your hand and pat down slightly and place on a baking tray (i tend to use a bit of baking parchment)

Cooking time varies between 12-15 mins or until golden brown. (it may take slightly longer in your oven)
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You could also try substituting Raisins for Cranberry's and the Lemon for Orange, thou if the Orange is large you may not want to use all the Orange juice.

Simnel Cake

I cant take credit for this reciepe as it is the Baking Guru's Mary Berry's! But it has gone down a hit in my house!

Heres is what you'll need to make it!

175g/6oz light muscavado sugar

175g/6oz butter, softened

175g/6oz self raising flour

3 large eggs

25g/1oz ground almonds

2 tablespoons milk

100g/4oz sultanas

100g/4oz cherries, quartered, washed, and dried

100g/4oz dried apricots, snipped into small pieces

50g/2oz stem ginger, finely chopped

1 teaspoon mixed spice

2 teaspoons ground ginger

150g of Marzipan

Preheat oven 160C/320F/Gas 3.

Grease and line the base and sides of an 20cm/8in deep, round cake tin with baking parchment. (Bottom and sides! as the muscavado sugar will burn when cooking.)

Measure all the cake ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended. Place half the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Its now time to role out the Marzipan, i found that my side plate fit into my tin so it was the right size template to use, that way all i had to do was cut round the plate. To role out the Marzipan all i did was sandwich it between 2 pieces of cling film so i didnt have to faff with icing sugar ect. Place on top of cake mixture and put the rest of the mix on top of the Marzipan.

Bake for about one and three-quarter to two hours or until golden brown and firm in the middle. If toward the end of the cooking time the cake is getting too brown, loosely cover with a piece of foil. Allow the cake to cool in the tin before turning onto a cooling rack.

(You will find because of the Marzipan the middle takes a long time to cook and if u put a skewer in it will never come out clean, and you'll end up over cooking it like mine, the sides became a bit dry, so trust yourself if you press the middle and its firm take it out.)

Vanillia Cinnamon Apple pie

Its a simple recipe for Apple Pie, but simple can sometimes be the best! This makes a small pie which is about 7 inch wide and 1 inch deep, which serves about 4 people or 2 if your feeling greedy! I use a glass dish as it makes it easier to see when the pastry has cooked in the oven, so you dont have soggy pastry when you come to serve it.

To start off you will need to make some sweet shortcrust pastry, this will need to rest for 10-15 mins in the fridge before hand so its easy to role out.

To make the pastry you need to weigh out;
8oz (226g) of plain flour
2oz (56g) Lard
2oz(56g) Butter / thou i use Stork margarine as i'm lactose intolerant!
1oz of Sugar 
30-40 ml of Water

Rub the fat into the flour until its like breadcrumbs or till big lumps have disappeared (this can also be done in the food processor) then add sugar and mix with a spoon.

Add the water BUT not all at once, because sometime you will need less water than stated and sometimes you will need more! You want to dough to have come together and be firm not water logged. if it does, all you have to do is add a touch more flour. Then wrap in clinic film and place is the fridge.

Pie Filling


2 Baking Apples (Bramley's) or 4 sweet regular apples is you cant get hold of Bramley's
1 Tablespoon of sugar
2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla essences

Pre heat oven to 190C / 374F / gas mark 5 / fan oven 170C

 To construct the Pie you need to role out the pastry, what i do is, cut the pastry in half, role into a ball and place it onto a piece of cling film, which i have placed on the kitchen work top where i plan to role it out. Then i press it down with my hand, and then place another piece of cling film on top and now role out the pastry, this way you dont have to add more flour and makes less of a mess of your kitchen! Role it out so its wider than the dish you plan to use, so you have enough pastry to go up the sides of the dish.

The best thing about using clinic film is when moving the pastry you just have to pick up the bottom piece, obviously you need to remove the top piece when putting it into the pie dish!

 Peel apples, cut in to quarters and remove the core, then slice the apples in to a bowl (id say no more than a cm thich as they wont cook) then add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and mix, i use my hand but you can use a spoon if you wish.
Then place on top of pastry in pie dish. Then role out the remaining pastry in the same way as before, if you've done it right you can even use the same cling film! place on top of the and cut away the excess, you'll find you'll have quite a bit left and this can be frozen and re-used at a later date! You can sprinkle a little more sugar on top of the pie if you wish.

Then cook the pie until pastry is cooked and golden brown, the benefit of using a glass dish is you can see when the bottom is cooked, mine took about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven.. Then Eat! (Maybe leave to cool slightly, as i dont want to be responsible for burnt roof of mouths!)