The Blog

Last tea.

My plane back is this afternoon. Bags are packed, laundry’s finishing, post scheduled. The broad is going home (though there will still be some posts about my time here). When this goes up, I’ll be flying.

It was raining, real rain, for the first time since I’ve been here, when I got up this morning.

Don’t cry, London. I’ll be back. Gotta figure out how, but I’ll be back.

Any UK based magazines need an LA editor with producing experience to write stories and produce shoots? I’m putting it out to the universe.

Scones and Clotted Cream
for when you don’t know when you’re coming back

350g self-raising flour (2 1/2 cups), plus more for dusting
1 ml (¼) tsp salt
5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
85g butter (3/4 stick), cut into cubes
45 grams ml (3 tbsp) caster sugar
175ml (3/4 cup) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
squeeze lemon juice (see Know-how below)
beaten egg , to glaze

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Tip the flour into a large bowl with the salt and baking powder, then mix. Add the butter, then rub in with your fingers until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar.
Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 secs until warm, but not hot. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, then set aside for a moment. Put a baking sheet in the oven.
Make a well in the dry mix, then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a cutlery knife – it will seem pretty wet at first. Scatter some flour onto the work surface and tip the dough out. Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour, then fold the dough over 2-3 times until it’s a little smoother. Pat into a round about 4cm deep.
Take a 5cm cutter (smooth-edged cutters tend to cut more cleanly, giving a better rise) and dip it into some flour. Plunge into the dough, then repeat until you have four scones. By this point you’ll probably need to press what’s left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four. Brush the tops with beaten egg, then carefully place onto the hot baking tray.
Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top. Eat just warm or cold on the day of baking. Top with jam and clotted cream.

To make the clotted cream:
Pour heavy cream (Do not use ultra-pateurized. I like Trader Joe’s Heavy Cream) to a shallow depth (approximately one to three inches) into a heavy-bottomed oven-safe pot.
Cover the pot and put it in the oven on 180 F (or “warm,” depending on your oven’s settings).
Leave the covered pot in the oven for 8 to 10 hours. The cream is done when there is a thick yellowish skin above the cream.
Let the pot cool to room temperature. Then put the covered cream in the refrigerator for another 8 hours or overnight. Use within a week.

Recipe for scones adapted from BBC Good Food; Recipe for clotted cream adapted from The Cupcake Project‘s adaptation of a recipe from Sustainable Table

For a good conversion calculator, click here