Name: Strawberry Rye Scones
Yield: 8 scones
Ingredients: 200 g (7oz) strawberries (hulled); 180 g (1 1/2 cups) plain white flour (all purpose flour) (plus extra for dusting); 120 g (1 cup) dark rye flour; 3 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp salt; 3 tbsp granulated sugar (plus extra for sprinkling); 100 g unsalted buter (cold, cubed); 2 eggs; 100 ml (1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp) plain yogurt (plus extra for brushing)

Strawberry & Rye Scones

Summer heat is taking over London at the moment! I think we’re all pretty confused in the UK because we can’t complain about it being cold and rainy? Also I’ve been watching some of the Wimbledon tennis here & there and man, the poor tennis players must be having peak times in the 30-degree heat :/

I’m finally getting a few days to myself with no work to do and just being able to see my friends from home for a bit. Also got my exam results and am SO relieved that they went well so I can officially relax for the summer time. Summer for me always involves copious amounts of iced coffee, lots of courgettes from my dad’s allotment and strawberries!! The strawberry & cream pairing is an iconic summer flavour in the UK, especially around Wimbledon.

I made a trio of strawberry recipes for M&S which I’m reposting here for your guys to see. First up are these strawberry & rye scones. My favourite basic scone dough with fresh strawberries layered in. They’re best served warm with salted butter (and jam if you want more sweetness!).

Strawberry Rye Scones

Servings 8 scones

Ingredients

200 g (7oz) strawberries hulled
180 g (1 1/2 cups) plain white flour (all purpose flour) plus extra for dusting
120 g (1 cup) dark rye flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
100 g unsalted buter cold, cubed
2 eggs
100 ml (1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp) plain yogurt plus extra for brushing

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F), line a baking tray with baking paper. Slice each strawberry into 3 or 4 slices.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter to the bowl and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it’s mostly fine-textured with some pea-sized lumps of butter remaining.
Make a well in the middle of the ingredients and crack in the eggs and add the yogurt. Stir together just until you’ve mixed in most of the flour but there are still floury patches remaining. This is a very moist, soft dough!!
(See pics above for this step!) Dust a clean work surface well with flour and tip the contents of the bowl out onto it. Dust the top of the dough with more flour and roll it out into a rectangle roughly 40 x 20 cm (you should really be able to pat the dough out with your hands given how soft it is, in fact!). Lay half of the sliced strawberries down the middle third of the dough. Fold the left third of the dough over the top of the strawberries to cover them. Lay the rest of the strawberries onto the flap of dough you just folded over. Fold the right third of the dough over these strawberries to cover them. You should end up with alternating layers going: dough, strawberries, dough, strawberries, dough.
Cut into 8 equal rectangles using a large knife or bench scraper. Spread them out over the baking paper so they aren’t touching. Brush the tops of the dough with a little yogurt and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until dark golden. Serve warm.

Fig Jam, Apple & Hazelnut Crunch Overnight Oats

Ah exam period. This is probably the most stressed and busy I’ve been since A-levels. Probably something to do with how I have NINETY credits of modules this semester vs 30 credits last semester! My poor brain. I keep telling people to not give me any more facts because my brain cannot handle any more information. Luckily I’ve found the key to staying on track with revision is meal planning with my housemates and prepping breakfasts whenever possible but ESPECIALLY for exam days.

This is where overnight oats come in – my saviour. I can make them in a few minutes the night before my exams so that it’s prepped and ready for me in the morning. That means that I’m less freaked out because I have more time to actually read through my notes in the morning as I shove oats into my mouth. Yeah that’s right, I’m gloating about overnight oats – it’s an OAT GLOAT.

Anywho I teamed up with Quaker Oats UK to bring this post to you – they provided the super cute jar I used for the oats which is now my designated overnight oat jar. It’s got lil figs on the outside which was what inspired me to mix up my usual, plain overnight oats. If you’re in the UK, you can claim one of these specially designed jars by buying one of the promotional 1kg box of Quaker Porridge Oats OR by entering the competition below where you can win 5x of the specially designed jars. Just follow the instructions in the rafflecopter box below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fig Jam, Apple & Hazelnut Crunch Overnight Oats

Ingredients

For the fig jam:

100 g dried figs
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

For the oats:

40 g (1/2 cup) Quaker's fine porridge oats
125 ml (1/2 cup) milk, any kind (I used oat milk!)
1 green apple , shredded

For the Hazelnut crunch:

80 g Quaker's fine porridge oats
30 g hazelnuts , roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
pinch of salt

Instructions

Make the jam:

Soak the figs in hot water for at least 30 minutes until softened. Drain and blend until smooth, adding a bit of water as needed, to get a paste. Blend in the cinnamon and a pinch of salt - set aside.

Make the oats:

In a bowl, mix the oats, milk and apple together. Set aside.

Make the hazelnut crunch:

In a medium frying pan, toast the 80g of oats and roughly chopped hazelnuts over a medium heat whilst stirring, until they smell toasty. Add the olive oil, honey and salt to the pan and continue to stir until the oats are completely coated. Stir for 30 seconds more then remove from the heat

Assemble:

Layer a few teaspoons of the fig jam into a jar and top with the oat mixture. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. In the morning sprinkle with the hazelnut crunch (and some extra apple) just before you dig in!

* Thanks so much to Quaker Oats UK for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own

Hot Cross Bagels

Woah this Easter break has gone by so FAST. I’ve been in London for just over 2 weeks now aaaand I’m slightly freaked out that exams start basically a month from today. But I’m ignoring that thought for a mo to tell you about my bagel x hot cross bun hybrid!!

What we’ve got here is super chewy bagel dough, dotted with mixed dried fruit (which in the UK is basically currants, raisins and candied orange + lemon peel) and of course with the cross piped on top. Now, I’m always confused when I see US recipes for hot cross buns because people pipe a FROSTING cross onto the buns?? Adding frosting makes HCBs untoastable! So, please, for the sake of your enjoyment of HCBs, don’t used frosting on there; pipe a proper cross of water + flour paste + let your buns be toastable!!

Hot Cross Bagels

Servings 8 bagels

Ingredients

1 tsp active dried yeast
4 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (360ml) water
4 cups (500g) strong flour (I used half white and half wholemeal)
2 tbsp mixed spice*
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 oz (100g) mixed dried fruit or raisins

for the cross:

1/2 cup (60g) plain flour
1/2 cup (125ml) water

Instructions

Pour the yeast into a large bowl along with the sugar and 1/2 of the water. Set aside for 5 minutes then stir together.
Add the flour, mixed spice, salt and ~1/2 cup (125ml) of water. Use your hands to mix everything together in the bowl, adding more water a bit at a time as needed, to get a moist, firm dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and firm.
Pour some oil into the bowl you were using and place the dough into it, turning to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled in volume - about 2 hours.
Once the dough has risen tip it out onto a surface and pat down into a large circle. Sprinkle with the dried fruit then roll the dough up and knead it a few times to incorporate the fruit. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Cup your hand around a piece of dough and use a firm, circular motion to shape it into a ball. Poke a hole in the centre of the ball and gently stretch the hole out to be about an inch wide - it sounds large but as they sit the hole will shrink up!
Oil a baking tray, preheat the oven to 400F (200C) and bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, lower the heat so the water simmers. Gently lift one bagel and lower it into the water. Leave to boil for 1 minute then flip and boil for another minute. Remove to the baking tray and repeat this boiling with the rest of the bagels.
Place the plain flour into a medium bowl and gradually stir in the water until you get a thick, pipeable paste (you won't need all the water). Scoop the mixture into a sandwich bag and and snip off the corner then use it like a piping bag to pipe crosses over the bagels - it doesn't matter that the paste will be dripping through the holes as you can pull that bit off after it's baked.
Bake the bagels for 20-25 minutes until golden and risen. Leave to cool before slicing and toasting - serve with butter (and lemon curd is delicious, too).

Recipe Notes

- adapted from New York Bagels in Kamran Siddiqi'scookbook, Handmade Baking
- mixed spice is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice and ginger. For those in the US, it's basically Pumpkin Spice mix.

easy

Sourdough Wholemeal Bagels

One of the nicest things about being home in London, as opposed to my student house in Leeds, is that my parents turn the heating on. Those familiar to uni life will be familiar with the phrase ‘Can we just turn the heating on for an hour?’, said in a desperate tone at 6pm whilst you’re wearing leggings, fluffy socks, a thermal top, a jumper and a fleece and sitting under a blanket.

…

Crispy Sourdough Waffles & a Second Cookbook

Alrighty, if you hadn’t guessed my hinting in my last post/ hadn’t seen on instagram – I’m writing my second cookbook! Well…I’ve been writing recipes for it since October last year. I’ve spent the majority of my summer retesting recipes and shooting all the pictures too. So yeah, that’s why I’ve been absent from here for a while!

Now I have a little request for anyone who is willing/interested – I’ve obviously tested the recipes myself multiple times however I know that due to variation in ovens, stoves, pans, ingredients, altitudes etc.. that recipes can turn out wildly different in another cook’s kitchen. Also in my recipes I may explain something which makes sense to me but for others needs more clarification. On that note: I’m looking for people to test these recipes for me – between 1-3 recipes, your choice – and to give feedback so I can make sure the recipes are all good to go!

In case you’re wondering, the recipe book is entirely vegetarian as I’ve pretty much stopped eating meat for environmental, monetary and health reasons (although if the meat/fish is locally sourced and of a high quality I will eat it but that’s only really the case when I’m at a fancy ass restaurant/ at my parent’s home i.e. rarely). The recipes are aimed at beginner cooks with not a lot of dollah to splash on fancy ingredients (I’m looking at u cacao powder and coconut oil). There’s a BUNCH of savoury recipes and about 25 sweet recipes, too. There are also many recipes which are vegan (especially the baking recipes!) or gluten-free and many more which have adaptations to make them so.

~~If you’d like to help a gal out, please fill out this form and I’ll send a selection of recipes over to you asap! THANKS IN ADVANCE, YOU’RE THE BEST!~~ (I’ve now closed the form submissions! Thanks so much to everyone who has volunteered 🙂 )

…

Gingerbread Pancakes with Salted Treacle Butter

I’m getting used to the student kitchen life. I can deal with the crappy lighting and the 1 freezer drawer. That’s all fine. What I cannot wait to leave behind is the electric stove. It takes forever to heat up, forever to cool down and the arbitrary numbering system for ‘heat’ (numbered 1 to 6) doesn’t make anything easier. The saddest thing of all about the stove is that it’s a gargantuan challenge to cook pancakes properly on it. As you may know, pancakes are my top brunch item so the stove conundrum makes me very sad.

…

Instarecipe! Coconut Flour Pancake with Avocado, Eggs & Dukkah

These little coconut flour pancakes are becoming a quick favourite of mine. They’re really simple to stir up in the morning (or sometimes I make the batter at night and leave it in the fridge until breakfast time) and are incredibly filling! The texture is somewhat in-between a crepe and an American pancake – only a few mm thick with a slightly fluffy texture. Akin to socca but not so savoury, imo.

Here I went for a substantial topping of avocado, fried egg and rocket. I adorned it all with dukkah as my mum is now obsessed with putting dukkah on everything so I’m jumping on board! You can easily take this a sweeter route though with a topping of yogurt and berries or some sauteed apples!

…

Baked Pear, Chocolate & Hazelnut Oatmeal {Vegan, GF}

When the skies are constantly grey and the sun is setting earlier, and earlier, it is hard to get out of bed.

Since getting into food photography, where natural light is crucial, I’ve realised that I really require lots of natural light to thrive. It’s probably partially because of vitamin D production (apparently vitamin D deficiency is actually so much of an epidemic in the UK, we’ve started adding it to our bread). This summer, it became especially apparent how much sunlight affects me; I found that leaving the curtains open was a surefire way to awaken me at 6 am with no chance of falling asleep again. It was weird because I’ve always been a night-owl / committed lover of lie-ins.

…

Instarecipe! Steel-Cut Oats w/ Strawberry Compote, Almonds + Lemon Curd

Although I am on a fairly demanding course, I luckily sometimes get a late start. This Wednesday, thanks to a 1 pm Microbiology exam, I had one of those rare, late-start days! I like being able to take my time in the morning to make something slightly ‘involved’. Not like FULL ON COOKING but not just toast with nut butter.

…

Instarecipe! Pumpkin Yogurt Cornbread {+ a Taste of London Giveaway}

Cornbread, a.k.a. food of the Gods. It’s probably one of my favourite brunch foods and epitomises that lazy-Saturday-morning feeling, for me. I was craving it badly last weekend. As I had some extra roasted squash hanging out in the fridge, I mashed it up and stirred it into my usual cornbread batter (the recipe for which is from my cookbook, Top With Cinnamon.)

All you need is one bowl to whip this up in and you’ll have a lofty, golden bread to stuff into your face within the hour. I’m partial to cutting a wedge in half and topping it with my dad’s raspberry jam. It reminds me of home, and hugs and cosy duvet days. If you want to go a savoury route though, scrambled or poached eggs with some spinach and hollandaise or tomato salsa are good choices.

While I’m here writing this post I think I might as well slip in the fact that I have a pair of tickets to the Taste of London Festive Edition event to giveaway! The tickets were kindly provided by AEG so I could spread the foodie fun and help #taketastefurther 🙂
Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter below to enter. If you win you’ll get to choose if you’d like the tickets for the 19th or the 20th of November. Just follow the instructions in the rafflecopter box below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

…