scones

Are you skint, even though you’ve literally just been paid? Welcome to my life. As quickly as my pay cheque came – ‘pay cheque’ what am I, American? Anyway, no sooner had I been paid then the money swiftly vanished out of my account, leaving me with, well, not with nothing, but not with very much at all. It’s like I get robbed every month – stupid London.

Anyhoo, in light off my continuing impoverishment (perhaps I shouldn’t have spent so much money on Tina Turner The Musical tickets) I had to ditch the recipe I was going to make and swap it for something I could cobble together with ingredients I already had. Cheese and Marmite scone anyone?

Cheese and Marmite scones
Makes 10 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total time 40 mins / V ❄
You’ll need: 5cm cookie cutter
1 ½ tbs Marmite
1 tbs boiling water
350g self-raising flour
80g cold unsalted butter, cubed
80g vegetarian mature cheddar, grated
175ml semi-skimmed milk
1 egg
15g grated vegetarian Italian hard cheese or Parmesan*

Method
1. In a small bowl add 1 ½ tbs of Marmite and cover in 1 tbs of boiling water. Using a teaspoon, mix well until the Marmite has dissolved into a more workable liquid. Put to one side.
2. Add the flour to a large bowl along with the cold cubed butter. Using your hands, work the butter into the flour with your fingers until you have fine breadcrumbs. Add the grated cheddar and mix well with a butter knife.
3. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6 and line 2 baking trays with baking paper and put in the oven to heat up.
4. Warm the milk slightly in a pan (it’s important that you don’t over heat the milk, it should be lukewarm). Take off the heat and mix the Marmite liquid into the milk (leaving a little of the Marmite liquid behind for the topping later).
5. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the Marmite milk. Using the butter knife, mix quickly until combined (you need to work quickly as the warm milk with activate the raising agents in the flour).
6. Flour a clean work surface and tip the dough out onto it. Using your hands (being carful not work the dough too much) pat the dough into a kind of giant burger shape roughly an inch thick. Flour the cutter before plunging into the dough, twist and pull out creating your scone. Continue until you can’t make anymore, before gathering up any excess dough and reshaping to produce more scones. Carefully remove the baking trays from the oven. Place the scones evenly on the trays (making sure you have enough space between each scone for them to rise).
7. Crack the egg into the bowl containing the remaining Marmite water and beat well with a fork. Brush the top of each scone with the egg and top with a small sprinkling of Parmesan. Bake in the oven for 10-15 mins or until they’re a lovely golden brown. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving warm with butter and an extra spread of Marmite for those who really love it!

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
❄ To freeze, cool fully before wrapping individually in a few layers of clingfilm and freeze for up to 3 months.
*Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiani) is always made using animal rennet, therefore it is not vegetarian. Substitute for Italian hard cheese if applicable.

My mum loves a bit of apricot jam, if she’s not spreading it on her toast she’s sticking her whole face into a jar of it like Pooh Bear… She doesn’t really do that, well she might but what I’m trying to say is my mum loves apricot jam. This means I also love apricot jam, so for Mothers Day I thought I’d make apricot scones.
All mums like an afternoon tea for Mothers Day but if you can’t afford all that business, then have a go at making these little gems. They’re really easy, cheap and delicious – if I do say so myself. I’ve actually eaten all mine so will have to make another batch before Sunday, although there’s a strong chance I’ll eat those too. What can I say, I just love apricots, it’s my mums fault. Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers Day apricot scones
Makes 10 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total time 40 mins / V ❄
You’ll need: 5cm cookie cutter, 2 baking trays
350g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
80g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 tbs caster sugar
50g chopped dried apricots
175ml semi-skimmed milk
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 egg, beaten
Apricot jam and clotted cream to serve

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7 and line a baking tray with baking paper. Chop the apricots and put to one side.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder and put to one side. Add the cubed butter and rub it with your fingers until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and the apricots and mix well (The apricots may be a bit stuck together so make sure you pull them apart and distribute evenly).
3. Warm the milk in a pan (it’s important you don’t over heat the milk, it should be lukewarm). Take off the heat and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Put the baking trays in the oven.
4. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the milk. Using a cutlery knife, mix quickly until combined. Flour your work surface and tip your dough out onto it. (Try not to work the dough too much but kneed just enough to make the dough a little smoother, two or three folds should do it). Pat into a large burger shape around 1 inch thick.
5. Flour the cutter and plunge into the dough, twist and pull it out creating your scone. Repeat until you can’t make anymore scones, before gathering up the scraps of dough, mould it back together and repeat until you have 8-10 scones.
6. Carefully remove the baking trays from the oven and place the scones out evenly. Brush the top of each scone with beaten egg and bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes.
7. Leave to cool for five minutes and then devour with clotted cream and apricot jam.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V – Vegetarian
❄ To freeze, cool fully before wrapping individually in a few layers of clingfilm and freeze for up to 3 months.