Nigella with a twist

Early friday morning, I went into town to get myself a new hose for my vacuum cleaner. After a tiny altercation with a shop assistant, apparently you're not allowed to check if it's the right size by dismembering one of the models on display, I got home in the afternoon and literally enjoyed many hours of much needed spring cleaning. I eventually collected enough fur to create three more cats, seriously, it was that bad.

High on my domestic vibe, I also decided to do some baking. I couldn't even remember how long it had been so I started of easy. I got my dustcovered rolling pin out and made one of my pumkin's favorites: scones. For those of you who aren't familiar with scones, they are simple, sweet and soft bread-like little rolls which are perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea (especially filled with jam or chocolate paste).

At Christmas I got Nigella's How to be a domestic goddess which has a great scone recipe but sadly I am incapable of following it or any recipe as a matter of fact. I always seem to improvise. For me recipes give me ideas or basic guidelines but seeing as I am an aspiring goddess in my own right, I always have to give it my own personal touch. This is why I now present you with the recipe for Nigella's scones with a dash of Ginny Jones:



250gr of whole wheat flour

100 gr sugar

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

100ml of milk

50gr butter (she uses trex as fat but seeing as I've got no idea what that is...)

3 tablespoons of sour cream (she uses cream of tartar ???)

50gr raisins

That's about it. Nigella's doesn't put in raisins or sugar or whole wheat flour making them pale, soft and kinda tasteless bread rolls in my opinion. When I had scones as a kid they were always a little sweeter and moist (hence the raisins). You can naturally have savory scones as well by adding cheese to the mix but I prefer the sweeter ones.

Anyway, add the flour, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Knead in lumps of butter and the sour cream untill the mixture goes damp (likes sand). Add the milk and start kneading until you've got a firm dough. Last but not least, add in the raisins. Now put the dough on a floured surface and roll it out until it's about 3cm thick and start cutting. I have cookie cutters in all shapes and sizes but oddly enough no circles so I use a glass or my flower cutter. I know, very professional. Beat an egg and put some of the mixture on top of the scones before baking them in a preheated oven for 12 minutes on 250°. If you're lucky, they should have risen and be golden brown.