Recipes
Afternoon Tea at Home
Enjoy tea in the comfort of your home.
I don’t think there is anything better than having a nice cup of tea in the comfort of one’s home. Whether it’s a simple cup of tea and a biscuit to a full afternoon tea, it warms my heart to share my love of tea and baking with my friends and family.
Plain Scones/Current Scones
My scone journey started with a box mix. Yes, I admit it, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t good ones out there. You’ll find my favorite scone mix in the My Favorites! link. But learning to make scones that both taste and look right to me took years! The trick really comes from how you handle the dough - less handling, the better, or else you will have a tough scone. Using a table knife to mix the wet and dry ingredients is a hint I learned from online bakers to not overwork the mixture. Pour the dough out onto your counter or board when there are still some dry ingredients in the bowl and carefully fold the dough over itself until everything comes together. When you cut out your scones, make sure the cutter is well floured and don’t twist your cutter or else it could prevent your scone from rising properly. Even though I don’t always use an egg wash for the tops, they still taste just as good. I enjoy plain and current scones with jam and clotted cream or a stiff whipped cream if you can’t find clotted cream near you.
Fresh Blueberry Scones
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t try my first fresh blueberry until after I had kids and I started my baking journey. Fast forward to today, I will now always keep an eye out for fresh blueberries at farmers markets and local shops. While I initially feel guilty to use them in baking instead of eating them fresh, I cannot deny how wonderful they are in homemade blueberry muffins and scones as the juicy fruit bursts in my mouth with each bite. I found this blueberry scone recipe from smittenkitchen.com. You won’t be disappointed.
Fresh Blueberry Muffins
Okay, I had to add the muffin recipe since I mentioned it above. But having tried dozens of blueberry recipes, I can’t tell you how excited I was when I discovered this recipe from King Arthur Flour. There are a lot of blueberries in this recipe and the dusting of sugar on top really takes it to the next level. So yummy and delicious!
Chicken Salad Tea Sandwiches
As you may have noticed, there are tons of recipes for chicken salad online. But because I don’t particularly enjoy mayonnaise, it was difficult to find a recipe I thought I would like. I’m not sure what actually lured me to this recipe from urbanblisslife, but I’m so glad I did. Now, I don’t follow the recipe exactly. I omit the apples and grapes and I don’t add all the mayonnaise the recipe calls for, but enough to make it moist. I also add chopped dried cranberries and the final result makes me think this is what chicken salad should taste like. What I love the most is how forgiving the recipe is, by adding more of this and less of that according to my taste. Tarragon is key, though! You can’t omit that. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
The BEST Chicken Breast Recipe (I use to make chicken salad sandwiches)
I absolutely love this super easy method to make chicken breasts for my chicken salad sandwiches. It is totally fool-proof. You can’t mess it up! This recipe by Faith Durand from The Kitchn is the best! I cannot say enough good things about it. Try it once and you’ll see what I mean!
“Sausage” Rolls
My father-in-law, who still has a very strong Scottish accent, tells me every time this is not a sausage roll. It may look like a sausage roll, but because I use chicken sausage in it, it’s not a true sausage roll. I’m fine with that. My kids and my husband love this recipe so I continue to make it as our official sausage roll. This recipe calls for traditional sausage meat but I substituted with the chicken sausage. The spices contribute to the flavor we enjoy and I hope you will, too, should you decide to try the “fake” version. :-)
Cranberry Oat Scones
While I realize cranberries tend to be more popular during the fall and winter months, this is a wonderful year-round scone. It’s absolutely perfect with morning tea and coffee because it’s packed full of whole oats, nuts and dried fruit. Similar to many scone recipes, it’s very forgiving if you don’t have all the exact ingredients on hand. I have substituted the pecans with finely chopped walnuts. When I didn’t have enough dried cranberries, I added dried currents or raisins to make up for the missing fruit. I prefer to roughly chop up the dried fruit a little bit, but it’s all up to what you like. Buttermilk is much easier to work with, but there was a time when I didn’t have it and used sour cream. There is no sour taste to the final product in case that’s a concern. As I mention before, never put in all the liquid at one time just in case your mixture becomes too wet. Otherwise, it will be difficult to work with and you’ll need to add more flour which will cause you to overwork the dough. This recipe suggests making smaller scones, which is perfect considering how dense they are. I tend to make these scones the day before and bake them the next morning. Cut out the scones, sprinkle the tops with course sugar, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator to bake the next day. They turn out perfectly every time!
Glazed Lemon Scones
It did take me a few tries to finally discover a lemon drizzle scone recipe that met my expectations. While I tend to pass on scone recipes that call for a full stick of butter or more like this one, I do find the recipe from Sizzling Eats to be a decadent, lemony treat. My only hint for this recipe is to watch how much liquid you put into the dry mixture. Much of this depends upon how cold your butter is. Once you add the liquid, your dough can become quite soft and more difficult to work with if your hands are warm, the room is warm and your butter has had time to soften a bit. This means you won’t need as much liquid to hold the dough mixture together. Every time I’ve made this recipe, I’ve left out at least a quarter cup of the liquid mixture even though my butter was very cold. You can experiment on your own because maybe using all of the liquid will produce a softer texture you prefer. It’s all trial and error. I also add more powdered sugar to the amount of lemon juice the recipe calls for when making the glaze. I find it too runny, otherwise. However, adding more and more sugar will seem to increase the amount of glaze as it gets thicker. But knowing how much butter this recipe calls for, what’s a little more lemony, tart goodness on top? I hope you like it!
Potato Leek Soup
I love a smooth and silky pureed soup, especially when it’s a version of potato soup. For many years, I followed my mother’s potato soup recipe as a guide but since I found this recipe from once upon a chef, there’s no going back. I really enjoy the fresh flavors from the leeks, thyme, bay leaves and garlic. This is a perfect option for entertaining and making ahead of time because it tastes even better the next day. I don’t make any changes to this recipe unless you choose to cut the recipe in half. It makes enough to fill a large dutch oven so be advised there will be a lot of leftovers. I tend to make this soup whenever I make sausage rolls or homemade bread. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Stiff Whipped Cream (for scones)
Traditionally, scones are split in two and topped with clotted cream and jam. However, here in the United States, it’s pretty rare to find clotted cream at a local market and it can be quite expensive. You can purchase it online if you’re really keen to try it or you can make your own if you’re really ambitious. I have yet to try that. While I do keep clotted cream in the fridge, I do make a stiff whipped cream when it’s just for my husband and me. If you don’t already have a “go-to” whipped cream recipe, I like Alton Brown’s version. My only suggestion is to beat it until it’s quite stiff so it’s spreadable like a very soft frosting. Be careful you don’t over mix it or you’ll actually have butter! I also prefer to make half of the recipe because you may have more than you need for one batch of scones. Enjoy!
Popovers
I made my first popover about nine years ago on Christmas Day. Ever since then, it has become apart of our family’s holiday tradition to have them with bangers for brunch after opening gifts. Although I’ve made them several times over the years, I still cross my fingers they will turn out the way I like them, tall and fluffy. As soon as I pull them out of the oven, I yell to my husband to quickly take a photo before they start to deflate. I have yet to fill them with chives, cheese or herbs as we prefer them plain (eating them like we would a dinner roll) or with Golden Syrup (to make them sweet!). I used the New York Times recipe for many years until a friend told me it became a subscriber only site. So, the next best recipe I’ve had very good luck with is from King Arthur Baking. I still suggest preheating your pan in the oven and buttering it with melted butter just before pouring in your batter. You can also use a muffin pan if you don’t have a popover pan. Either way, they will be delicious!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
My good friend who also likes to bake makes an amazing almond flour chocolate cake. My family always looks forward to it whenever she and her family come to visit. So when I came upon this recipe from recipetineats, I had to give it a try to see if it would taste anything like her’s. The texture isn’t the same, but it’s a great substitute whenever we’re in the mood for chocolate cake. It is dense and fudgy. No frosting is required. If you wish to decorate the top, a dusting of cocoa powder or powdered icing sugar is all that’s needed. It’s a delicious gluten-free treat even if you aren’t gluten-free!
Cinnamon Sugar Scones
One of my favorite flavor combinations is cinnamon and sugar. I stumbled upon this recipe from Smitten Kitchen when I was looking for a coffee cake recipe. If you don’t mind putting in just a little more work, this is a recipe that makes you feel warm and cozy. Folding the dough to create cinnamon and sugar layers turns the modest looking scone into something your family and guests will think you spent hours in the kitchen when you actually didn’t. The sugar topping provides a little bit of a crunch while the inside is moist and tender. I enjoy these scones with either clotted cream or a stiff whipped cream.
Hot Chocolate
Besides tea, I absolutely love a cup of hot cocoa. However, being lactose sensitive, it’s been years since I’ve been able to enjoy a cup. With all the milk alternatives on the market, I decided to find a recipe that would satisfy my craving and not taste like the powdered packets at the store. Celebrating Sweets was the first link that popped up after I did a search query and I decided to substitute real milk with oat milk. Oh, my! I was in heaven! The recipe is a bit too rich for my taste so I add a half cup more oat milk and it turns out perfectly every time. My husband loves a mug with a heaping scoop of freshly whipped cream. At some point I will eventually need to make this with whole milk for my son. He doesn’t know I’ve been using a milk alternative since I’ve been making it. I hope it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside as it does for me!
Orange Cranberry Scones
While I’m typically not a big fan of orange-flavored cakes and sweets, I decided to try this recipe from In Cookie Haven because it sounded so fresh. I also love dried cranberries in cooking and baking. So I grabbed an orange from the tree in my backyard and set to work. From the moment I started to zest the orange and I could smell that bright fragrance floating in the air, I was getting really good vibes with how this was going. While I only made a few changes to the recipe by cutting back on the butter by a tablespoon, cutting back on the cream by a quarter cup (don’t forget, you can always add liquid, but you can’t remove it if the dough becomes too sticky) and added about 1-2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice to the dough mixture, I was hooked. I’ve baked these scones several times now, with and without the cranberries, and my family loves them as much as I do. While you can top with jam, I love them with a stiff whipped cream and would enjoy with clotted cream if I had it on hand. Traditional scones are my go-to recipe but the flavored ones are a lovely treat!