So I know it's autumn now, but can you forgive for me for trying to hold on to a little bit of summer? The sun has been shining this week and sometimes it was even warm enough to abandon the jumper :) So although cream teas and scones might conjure up dreams of warmer, lazier days in the garden, I can promise you they are just as delicious on cooler days tucked up inside when the leaves are turning golden brown.
I don't usually watch the Hairy Bikers but this week I caught a little of an old show on TV where they were roasting strawberries with black pepper for scones. The roasted strawberries looked like little jewels adorning scone crowns and I couldn't resist making some for us.
The strawberries take an hour and a half to roast, so whilst the scones are relatively quick to make, you do need to start preparations a little earlier for these. You could always roast the strawberries the day before and get a head start on your baking. They are simple to prepare. The strawberries are hulled and cut in half and then sprinkled with two teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Then roasted on a sheet of baking paper for an hour and a half. The juices run out and they get a little sticky on the paper but try to scrape all the goodness up as you don't want to lose a drop of this in your scones.
The scones are super simple to make. The butter should be added cold to the flour, sugar and salt and then rubbed in with your fingertips. Then add your roasted strawberries to the mix. Finally stir in the milk (I used whole milk) and combine until all the ingredients are well mixed.
Turn the mixture out onto a well floured surface, add a little more flour to the top and then pat down with your hand until the mixture is around 3cm deep (my scones were taller than the Hairy Biker scones on TV but I prefer them that way) I cut out rounds with a 68mm cutter, placed them on a baking tray lined with Silpat (or you can use baking paper) and then brushed the top with a little milk. Into the oven for around 18 minutes and they are ready to enjoy.
They are delicious warm from the oven and are nice without any other toppings. However, when topped with strawberry jam and clotted cream they are absolutely heavenly.
We are all partial to afternoon tea in this house and these were a lovely treat. I think the addition of the roasted strawberries not only looks more beautiful but the flavour adds a new dimension to them too. Well worth the effort of getting out your roasting tin :)
Roasted Strawberry and Black Pepper Scones Makes 15 (from the Hairy Bikers)
Roasted Strawberry Ingredients
- 300G STRAWBERRIES
- 2 TSP CASTER SUGAR
- 1 TSP FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER
Scone Ingredients
- 500g SELF-RAISING FLOUR (plus extra for dusting surfaces when rolling)
- 50G CASTER SUGAR
- ½ SALT
- 100G COLD BUTTER, CUT INTO SMALL CUBES
- 300ML FULL-FAT MILK (plus extra for brushing the top of the scones)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 120 degrees (fan)
- For the Roasted Strawberries, prepare them by hulling them and cutting each one in half
- Put them on a lined baking tray and then sprinkle them with the sugar and pepper
- Roast them for 1½ hours
- Scrape them off the baking paper and put to one side
- For the Scones, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan) and line two baking trays
- Place the flour, sugar and salt into a medium mixing bowl
- Add the cubed butter and rub into the dry mix with your fingertips until the flour mix looks like fine breadcrumbs (around 3 to 5 mins)
- Stir through the roasted strawberries
- Add half of the milk and start to combine with the flour mix
- Then add the other half and mix until all the ingredients are well-mixed and forms a dough
- Dust your work surface with flour and then turn out your dough on to here
- Put a little more flour on top and then knead gently until the dough all comes together
- Pat down with your hands or rolling pin until the dough is around 3cm thick
- Then cut out rounds with a 7cm cutter and place them onto the prepared baking trays
- Gather together the scraps of dough, re-roll them and cut out rounds, repeating until you've used all your dough (it should make around 15 scones)
- Brush the tops with a little milk
- Place them in the oven and cook for around 18 mins until they're risen and the tops are brown
- Slice them in half and serve with your favourite combination but I can especially recommend strawberry and clotted cream :)