I am back in baking mode this afternoon, and have spent the afternoon cooking up batches of scones, and when I say scones, I don’t mean those oversized (but delicious, nevertheless) huge American mounds you find in coffee shops, but a true, and small, English scone that needs to be piled high with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

And to all those who have complimented me on my slim elegance in my wedding dress - it doesn’t look like it’s going to last long… pulling hot scones out the oven how can you possibly NOT slather one in butter and jam. And then another. And then, what the hell, dinner’s still a couple of hours away, just one more.

I now feel slightly sick, and think dinner really ought to be a bowl of the rather disgusting vegetable soup I have been eating in the run up to the wedding, but I need real food again, and there is a rather delicious curried fish leftover in the fridge.

Last night I ended up having dinner in the city with an old friend from television days back in England. She is currently filming with Delia Smith, who is the doyenne of British cooking, and I am deeply jealous. In homage to Delia, I am making Toad in the Hole for the kids this weekend. The Eldest Son has just finished Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World, and his overwhelming memory of it is all the mouthwatering descriptions of the food. Thus far he has had me promise to make him Toad in the Hole, and an authentic Game Pie, complete with boiled eggs hidden in the meat, just as Roald Dahl describes.

Toad in the Hole, for those who don’t know, is essentially a pan of Yorkshire Pudding, the American equivalent is the Popover, with sizzling pork sausages dotted around. It’s one of those comfort foods we associate with childhood, together with dishes like Shepherd’s Pie, Rice Pudding and Custard, and Steak and Kidney pudding. Anyone not British would be, and generally is, repelled, but get a couple of Brits together and bring up nursery food, and you’ll have them in raptures over anything sticky, stodgy and suety.

My most favorite thing in the world when I was at school was the skin off the custard. This was a rare treat. Every day the lunch lady would ask for a show of hands, and dozens of jiggling children would try and catch her attention so they could be the one to have the delicious custard skin.

I remember things like Treacle tart and cornflake tart. A peculiar chocolate pudding with a not-very-nice chocolate custard. Of course there was Spotted Dick and custard - a sponge pudding dotted with raisins, which all Americans find singularly hilarious.

I will give you both scones recipe - from Nigella’s Domestic Goddess book, and Delia’s Toad in the Hole recipe, only because all Delia’s recipes are idiot-proof, and unlike the peppermint creams I pinched from the Daily Mail that I hadn’t tried and turned out to be revolting, I know for a fact this will be delicious.

Delia Smith’s Toad in the Hole

Ingredients
6 good-quality pork sausages  about
1 tbsp groundnut or other flavourless oil (if necessary)
For the batter:
just under 1/2 cup plain flour
1 large egg
just under 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk
salt and freshly milled black pepper
For the onion gravy:
1 cup onions, peeled and sliced
2 tsp groundnut or other flavourless oil
1 level tsp light brown sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 level tsp mustard powder
15fl oz/425ml vegetable stock
2 rounded tsp plain flour
salt and freshly milled black pepper

You will also need a solid-based, flameproof roasting tin with a base of 9×6in/23×15cm, 2 in/5cm deep, and a baking tray 14×10in/35×25.5cm.

 Method
Preheat the oven to 425F.

Begin by making the batter, and to do this sieve the flour into a large bowl, holding the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing.

Now, with the back of a spoon, make a well in the centre, break the egg into it and add some salt and pepper.

Measure the milk and 2fl oz/55ml water in a measuring jug, then, using an electric hand whisk on a slow speed, begin to whisk the egg into the flour - as you whisk, the flour around the edges will slowly be incorporated. Then add the liquid gradually, stopping to scrape the flour into the mixture. Whisk until the batter is smooth. Now the batter is ready for use, and although it’s been rumoured that batter left to stand is better, I have never found this, so just make it whenever it’s convenient.

Place the sliced onions in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of the oil and the sugar and toss the onions around to get the lightest coating, then spread them on the baking tray.

Next arrange the sausages in the roasting tin, then place the onions on a high shelf in the oven, with the sausages on a lower shelf, and set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the sausages from the oven but leave the onions in for a further 4-5 minutes - they need to be nicely blackened round the edges. When they are ready, remove them and leave to one side.

Now place the roasting tin containing the sausages over direct heat turned to medium and, if the sausages haven’t released much fat, add the tablespoon of oil. When the tin is really hot and the oil is beginning to shimmer - it must be searing hot - quickly pour the batter in all around the sausages.

Immediately return the roasting tin to the oven, this time on the highest shelf, and cook the whole thing for 30 minutes.

Now for the gravy. First add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder to the stock, then add the onions from the baking tray to a medium-sized pan. Now add the second teaspoon of oil, then, using a wooden spoon, stir in the plain flour. Stir all this together over a medium heat and then switch to a whisk, then gradually add the stock to the pan, whisking all the time, until it’s all in. Then bring it up to simmering point and gently simmer for 5 minutes.

Taste to check the seasoning, then pour into a warmed serving jug.

When the toad is ready, it should be puffed brown and crisp and the centre should look cooked and not too squidgy. Serve it immediately with the gravy, and it’s absolutely wonderful with mashed potato.

 Lily’s Scones, via Nigella

3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening, in teaspooned lumps
1 1/3 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten for egg-wash

2 1/2-inch crinkle-edged round cutter

1 baking pan, lightly greased

1.    Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar into a large bowl.  Rub in the fats till the mixture goes like damp sand. Add the milk all at once, mix briefly – briefly being the operative word – and then turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to form a dough.

2.    Roll out to about 1 to 1 1/4 inch thickness. Dip the cutter into some flour, then stamp out at least 10 scones. You get 12 in all from this, but may need to reroll for the last 2. Place on the baking sheet very close together – the idea is that they bulge and stick together on cooking – then brush the tops with the egg wash. Put in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until risen and golden.

3.    Always eat freshly baked, preferably still warm from the oven, with clotted cream and jam,

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 7:43 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.