Best Cream Scones ever!!!

I'm all done with exams!! I had my final exam this afternoon, so now it is just a case of waiting for results.  I have the next three weeks or so and I am planning some pretty ambitious baking projects. I will share them with you in my next recipe list.

We have a bit of a snow storm planned for Dunedin starting tonight and going through till tomorrow. If this happens like it says it will this will be quite a novelty as we have already had one good dumping of snow at the end if may. As I had recently injured my ankle, I couldn't really enjoy the last snow day (ok so I do become a little bit of a kid in snow as we don't get a proper snow fall that often) so I will be definitely be having some fun this time. I am also planning on making my sister some cookies that she requested for her birthday.

Anyway on to this recipe. During my study on Sunday morning I took a break to make these scones as I had a family lunch to take them to. I found the scone recipe in a school cookbook and as they were called Meola's Cream Cloud Scones I was definitely wanting to try them. This recipe is different to the scone recipes that I have made in the past as it uses straight cream instead of butter (this does make sense as butter is just churned cream).

Now I don't believe in counting calories for myself, but out of curiousity I thought I would input these into a calculator. They weren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be coming out at 180 calories per scone (just in case you were interested).

The first time round I followed the recipe and used apricots and sultanas for the dried fruit component. They were absolutely delicious!! I loved the base recipe and was already thinking up lots of possible flavour combinations.

Initially I had planned lemon and pistachio ones, but when I went to buy pistachios they were $8.99 for 100g. There was absolutely no way I was paying that on my student budget so I had to rethink. While making something else I came across cranberries and white chocolate chips and had a wee lightbulb moment.

I am still dreaming of different flavour combinations (caramel and hazelnut sounds pretty dreamy but may have to be a dessert scone). I'll update this post of I do try any more.

Makes 12 scones

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup cranberries (or apricots for variation)
1/4 white chocolate chips or drops (or sultanas for variation)
Zest 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups cream
1-2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.

In a large bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the sugar, cranberries, lemon zest and white chocolate and stir well with a fork.

Add the cream and still using the fork mix to form a slightly sticky dough. If the mixture is not wet enough add some milk.

Once combined, with floured hands knead the mixture in the bowl for a few minutes or until it all comes together in a big ball. Brush the melted butter on to the top.

Flatten on a a floured board till about 2cm thick and roughly rectangular. Cut the rectangle into 12 pieces (3 by 4). Arrange the scones on a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silicone mat.

Bake for 15-20 minute or until the tops are starting to brown.

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

I really enjoy having a shared dinner. You can have an amazing meal, but with much less time pressure as you only have to focus on one aspect. This week we had a shared dinner with the flatmates. Now I know that this sounds kind of strange as flatmates usually eat together and a shared meal isn't something different, but because our flat is made up of 2 couples, we just cook separately. This is partly due to differing tastes and cooking styles and partly due to much less hassle for me and Hungry Male just likes to take leftovers for his lunch the next day so I don't have to buy extras.

Anyway, for our shared dinner the flatmates had some wild pork leg (one goes hunting) and lots of vegetables to use up. As the savoury side of dinner was sorted it was up to me to do the sweet. I could have made one of any number of things, but then my flatmate told me that she had a pineapple to use up if I could think of anything to do with it. An upside pineapple cake was the first thing that came to my mind.

As I didn't have a tried and true recipe for this already, I looked up a few recipes. I came across this Nigella Lawson recipe that I liked the look of as it was really quick and easy to do. Throw everything into a food processor and you are done. I adapted a few ingredients and the amounts and voila, you have delicious, easy to make pineapple cake.

After a delicious roast we sat down to our cake and....... Hungry Male didn't like it. Oh well, you can't please everyone but 3 out of 4 were happy.

NB: I used a fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into rings because that is what I had. Tinned pineapple would be waaaaaaaay easier but fresh does work (just so you know)

Ingredients
6 rings tinned pineapple (should be a large tin), drained but juice reserved
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
150g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
150g butter, softened
150 g brown sugar
3 eggs
3Tbsp reserved pineapple juice or orange juice

Turn the oven to 200 degrees C. Place the first measure of butter in a 26cm cake tin and place in the oven for a few minutes.

Once the butter has melted, remove from the oven. Use a little of the melted butter to grease the rest of the tin.

Sprinkle the first measure of brown sugar over the top and then arrange the pineapple circles (I cut a few in to quarters for the gaps but you don't have to).

Place all of the other ingredients in a food processor. Process until the mixture is well combined. Using a rubber scraper, spread the mixture evenly over the pineapple.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too quickly, cover the tin with tinfoil.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then run a spatula around the edge of the cake to loosen the sides. Place a large plate upside down over the tin and then carefully holding the two together, flip them over to invert the cake.

Serve warm or cold by itself or with ice cream, yoghurt or cream.