SCONES: This is a nice version of scones that has additional flavour coming from the orange juice and peel that you might like.

ORANGE CURRANT SCONES:

 

 

 

dry ingredients:

    2 cups all purpose flour                                          

    1 tbsp. sugar

    1 tbsp. baking powder        

    ½ tsp. salt

¼ cup cold butter cut into bits                                     

1 egg, lightly beaten

¼ cup orange juice                                                      

 

½ cup 18% cream

grated rind of 1 orange                                               

1 ½ cups dry currants

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

 

Sift all the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Make a well in the center of flour mixture, add in orange juice, cream, the beaten egg and grated rind. Stir the mixture until just moistened. Stir in currants.

 

Turn the dough out on a floured surface, gently pad dough together and roll out lightly into ¾-inch thickness. Cut out scones and arrange them on un-greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk or cream. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool on rack. 

 

Serve warm scones with jam and clotted cream, if preferred.

SCONES: This is basically the same scone recipe. Adding raisins soaked in almond liqueur gives it extra flavour.

AMARETTO SCONES:

 

 

 

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup raisins                                                   

1 tbsp. Amaretto liqueur

1/3 cup each sugar & cold butter, cut into cubes

2 tsp. baking powder + ½ tsp. baking powder

1 egg, slightly beaten

¼ cup each milk & 18% cream

½ cup chopped walnuts                                  

 

egg yolk mixed with extra cream for brushing

                                   

 

 

 

Soak raisins in Amaretto for at least 1 hour. Drain and reserve.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a large baking sheet.  Sift flour and dry ingredients together. Use a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. If preferred, use a food processor to do this step--as in the "buttermilk scones" recipe. Mix together the egg, milk, cream and the reserved Amaretto, and pour this liquid mixture into flour mixture through the feed tube, with machine running. Process with on/off pulses until mixture is coming together. Add raisins and chopped nuts and buzz once or twice to mix in. .

 

Turn dough out onto floured surface and pad it into ¾ to 1-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a fluted cookie cutter. Arrange rounds on baking sheet and brush top with egg mixture. Bake 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. 

SCONES: I was fortunate to be given this recipe years ago. It has become the most used scones recipe that produces one of the best treats in my family.

BUTTERMILK SCONES:

 

 

 

 

3 cups flour                                                    

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar                                                  

2 tsp. baking powder + ½ tsp. baking soda                                         

¾ cup unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk                                             

¼ cup currants (or raisins) +  ¼ cup sunflower seeds

1 egg yolk mixed with a little water for brushing

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Combine dry ingredients, except raisins & sunflower seeds,  in a food processor. Add butter and process on/off until the mixture resembles very coarse breadcrumbs. With machine running, add buttermilk in a continuous stream through the feed-tube, and use on/offs pulses to process a few times only or until a dough is just coming together.  Add raisins and sunflower seeds, and buzz or twice it once to mix in, but do not over process. Transfer content of food processor to a large piece of waxed paper; gather the corners of the wax paper together to form the dough.

 

Transfer dough onto a floured cutting board. Pat the dough out lightly & gently into a flat round shape about 3/4-1-inch thickness.  Use a 2-inch round cookie-cutter to cut dough into rounds. Put rounds on greased baking tray, about 1 to 2-inches apart. Brush tops with egg mixture.

 

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.  

 

Split a scone into half & serve warm with jam and clotted cream.

SCONES: Scones are served, together with finger-sandwiches, in traditional high tea which was a way of life in the UK during my student days in that country in the 60s. That custom--an expensive treat now in that country--is getting more popular in North America.

PLAIN SCONES:

 

 

 

 

4 cups self-raising flour                                              

pinch of salt

2/3 cup milk + 1 tbsp. lemon juice                              

¼ cup cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg yolk beaten with milk for brushing

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

 

Sift flour and salt together. Use a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour, working until mixture resembles coarse meal. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and pour in milk and juice mixture. Stir and mix with a fork until mixture is just combined.

 

Turn out onto floured work surface, gently pad dough together and roll out to ¾-1-inch thickness. Cut dough into rounds and transfer rounds to a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk mixture.

 

Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with clotted cream and jam, or butter if preferred.

PASTRIES & VARIATIONS; This is my favourite dessert to serve as finale to a summer BBQ. It can be enjoyed all the year round though as a treat to please family & friends.

FRESH FRUIT TART:

 

 

 

 

short-bread cookie dough:

    1 cup butter, softened                     

    2 cups all purpose flour

    pinch of salt                                                

    1 egg yolk

    2 drops vanilla extract                                            

    ½ cup sugar

    ½ cup semi-sweet choc pieces

pastry cream:

    ¼ to 1/3 cup sugar                                      

    4 tbsp. slightly heaped, cornstarch

    6 egg yolks                                                 

    2 cups milk

    2 tbsp. Amaretto liqueur

topping:

    sliced fresh fruits, such as strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, peaches, etc to decorate

    1 store-bought pkg. of fruit glaze, made according to instructions, to glaze fruits

 

 

 

Use a hand-held electric beater to beat butter and sugar together until fluffy and light coloured. Add egg yolk and beat until mixed in. Sift flour and salt together. Add half of flour into margarine, folding in with a wooden spoon. Add remaining flour and mix in.  Work dough into a ball. Flatten ball out into a large round. Wrap with wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

 

To make pastry cream:  Mix sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks in a heavy saucepan.  Scald milk until almost boiling. Whisk hot milk into yolk mixture.  Put saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes very thick and bubbles pop up in the middle and around the edges. Let it bubble for 30 seconds or so before removing pan from heat. Transfer into a bowl. Cool slightly; then add liqueur. Cover pastry cream with a round of buttered wax paper to prevent a skin from forming.  Cool then chill.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Roll out pastry to fit a 9-inch tart/flan case with removable bottom. Line empty pie crust with wax paper and fill it with rice or baking beans; and bake blind for 12 minutes. Remove wax paper and bean/rice, and bake 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and set it on rack to cool completely.

 

Melt chocolate and paint a layer of it over the baked pie crust. Chill for 1 hour.

 

When custard is firm and set, spread it over the chilled pie crust.  Arrange fresh fruit in a decorative pattern on top of pastry cream.  Make fruit glaze according to package instruction and pour it over the fruits. Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

 

 

 

 

VARIATIONS: 

 

 

1.   Substitute pastry cream with 250gm. cream cheese, softened and beaten with 2 tbsp. sugar and ½ tsp. vanilla extract.

 

 

 

2.   Pastry cream filling may be substituted with mascarpone cheese filling as follows:

 

9 oz. mascarpone cheese about 1 ¼ cups       

2 tbsp. icing sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon                                  

2 tsp. ground mixed spice

1 tbsp. Kirsch or cherry liqueur

 

Place ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

PASTRIES & VARIATIONS: Following the concept of using rhubard as fruit filling for pies, please also try out the winning combination of rhubard & strawberries in desserts.

STRAWBERRY AND RHUBARB PIE:

 

 

 

 

1 quantity of prepared short crust pastry for a double-crusted 9” pie

filling:

    1 ½ cups sliced fresh strawberries                          

    2 ½ cups fresh cubed rhubarb

    1 cup sugar                                                             

    6 tbsp. flour

    ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon                                         

    1 tbsp. butter

egg wash

 

 

 

Roll out half the pastry to roughly ¼-inch thickness to line a 9” pie plate.  Roll out top crust and place it on a wax-paper-lined plate. Refrigerate both for at least 30 minutes until ready to use.

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

 

Combine strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl, tossing well to coat. Turn mixture into empty pie crust. Dot fruits with small pieces of butter.  Cover with top crust, sealing and fluting edges decoratively, cutting a few vents for steam to escape during baking. Brush pie with egg wash.

 

Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake 50 minutes more. Cool on rack. Serve warm.

PASRIES & VARIATION: I know this is probably not a popular pie in North America. This recipe was given to me when I lived in the UK where rhubard is a favourite ingrdient for desserts.

RHUBARB AND ALMOND PIE

 

 

 

 

1 quantity of prepared short crust pastry, see recipe, for 1-crust pie

fillings:

    4 cups rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces                   

    ¼ cup butter, softened

    1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar                           

    1 large egg

    3 drops almond extract                                           

    1 tsp. grated orange rind

    2/3 cup ground almonds

 

 

 

Roll out pastry to roughly ¼-inch thick to fit a 10-inch pie plate. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

 

Arrange an even layer of the rhubarb in the pie shell. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg, almond extract and orange rind. Stir in ground almonds to mix well. Spread filling evenly over the rhubarb.  

 

Bake 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for 30 minutes more. Cool on rack. Serve warm

PASTRIES & VARIATIONS: This is an easy to follow recipe that never fails to yield good result.

PECAN KAHLUA PIE:

 

 

 

 

1 quantity of prepared short-crust pastry, see recipe, for 1 crust pie

filling:

    ½ cup butter, softened                                

    1 cup brown sugar

    3 eggs, well beaten                          

    ¼ cup Kahlua liqueur

    ¼ cup light corn syrup                    

    1 ½ cups chopped pecan

    1 tbsp. rum                                     

    ½ tsp. salt

 

 

 

 

Roll out pastry to roughly ¼-inch thickness and fit it into 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

 

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy and smooth. Add eggs and mix well.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour into prepared pie crust.

 

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into filling comes out clean

PASTRIES & VARIATIONS: This is a twist on the lemon myringue pie that is a popular dessert. Hope you'll give it a try.

LEMON CUSTARD PIE:

 

 

 

 

1 quantity of prepared short crust pastry, see basic recipe

filling:

    ¾ cup milk                                                  

    juice of 1 lemon                                         

    1 tsp. grated lemon rind

    ¾ cup sugar                                                

    ½ cup corn starch + 1 cup water

    2 egg yolks                                                 

    ½ tsp. lemon extract

    1 oz butter

topping:

    3 egg whites                                                

    ½ cup superfine sugar

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll out pastry to roughly ¼-inch thickness to fit a 9-inch pie plate; then prick pastry all over with a fork. Bake “blind”, lined by a piece of wax paper filled with baking beans or rice, for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 degrees, remove wax paper and beans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let it cool completely.

 

To make filling:  Heat milk and sugar together in saucepan until boiling. Mix cornstarch with water and add cornstarch solution into boiling milk. Stir constantly and cook over low-medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and rind and butter. Beat egg yolks until smooth and add into milk mixture, stirring well to mix in.  Pour the whole thing into the cooled pie crust.

 

Beat egg white until foamy, add sugar gradually, beating after each addition and continue beating until stiff.  Fill a pastry bag, with a ½-inch star nozzle attached, with the beaten egg whites; then pipe decorative designs to cover the top of the pie.

 

Return pie to preheated 475 degrees oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.  

PASTRIES & VARIATIONS: This is a delicious pie that is a twist on the Baked Alaska dessert which uses ice cearm as filling and browned meringue as topping. Adding chocolate sauce to the serving makes it a wonderful summer dessert.

ICE CREAM PIE:

 

 

 

crust:

    1 ½ cup flour                                                          

    ½ tsp. salt

    2 tbsp sugar                                                

    ½ cup chilled butter                        

    4 to 5 tbsp. ice water

filling:

    1 pint each vanilla & chocolate ice cream                               

    4 egg whites                                         

    ½ tsp. vanilla extract

    ¼ tsp. cream of tartar                                              

    ¼ to ½ cup sugar

chocolate sauce:

    3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate                         

    1 cup whipping cream

 

 

 

Using a food processor fitted with steel blade, process flour, sugar and salt together using on/off pulses until mixed. Add chilled butter. Process on/off until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add water in a steady stream through the feed tube. Pulse on/off a few times until the dough begins to come together. Do not over process. Pour content out onto a large piece of wax paper and gather the corners of the paper around the dough to form into a ball. Use the hand to flatten ball out into a large round. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour before using.

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roll dough out on floured board to roughly ¼-inch thickness to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Prick dough well with a fork. Bake "blind" for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.   

 

When pie is completely cold, spread 1 layer of vanilla ice cream and 1 layer of chocolate ice cream on the crust; and smooth out uniformly. Put pie in freezer to freeze until solid.

 

Preheat oven to 470 degrees. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy, add in sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time; continue beating until meringue is stiff and glossy. Spread meringue over ice cream layers. Bake pie for 3-5 minutes or until meringue has browned attractively.  Remove from oven. Cool then freeze cake for several hours or overnight.

 

To serve:  Heat cream until hot and melt chocolate in cream. Drizzle chocolate sauce over each serving.