Sconey Island: Orange and Currant Scones

Sometimes life can feel a lot like Coney Island, an endless circus. You go from one act to the other jumping through hoops, breathing fire, taming lions, perhaps even handling large smelly mammals. And even though all these acts may not be arbitrary and meaningless, as you swing from one trapeze to the other, you think, perhaps a pause is required. Even though you may be in mid-air and in mid-flight, and there is nothing to catch you but a flimsy piece of netting, you know that letting go of that bar and getting out of that circus will essentially do you a world of good.

In this post-modern, technologically advanced, self-reliant world it is easy to forget that we are actually humans, not machines. So amidst busy schedules, due papers, mounting exams, film shoots and stressful jobs, four girlfriends were able to take some time out of their own personal circus and get together for lunch. Life gets crazy, but being able to take time out with some of the most important people in your life is a requisite to being able to surmount the mediocrity that so easily entangles us. That’s why I value the time I spend with these girls so much. With conflicting schedules and busy working hours it’s not too often that you can get the four of us together at the same time. However when we do mange to get our schedules to coincide, it’s superb.

This is possibly something that only females may identify with, but when a group of girls get together, it is completely and utterly possible to speak all at once and still understand each other. Multiple conversations could be taking place and several opinions are aired; nevertheless everyone understands each other and everyone is on the same page. Anecdotes containing an endless number of tangents concerning what people were wearing, what he said, what she said and a lot of, “and oh by the way”; a labyrinth of thoughts, gestures and narratives weaved into one story of what happened to me today, and yet we follow the story to the very end. Organised chaos; I guess that’s what you could call it. So you can imagine the cacophony of chatter and fits of laughter that was emanating from our table in this small Thai restaurant in Sydney’s northern suburbs.

One friend E, who works in the dementia ward of an aged-care facility, while putting herself through college, was telling us about her week. She was apparently punched in the mouth by one of the patients. The perpetrator, a deceptively sweet elderly lady, probably named Ethyl, accused E of stealing her dentures and abducting her husband and so decided to give E an uppercut to her face. Being the compassionate girlfriends that we were, we ended up in heaving fits of uncontrolled laughter, until we were virtually falling off our seats. If you knew E, and if you have seen the patients at the facility you would be laughing too.

Then another friend P shares her boy troubles and we all listen and empathise. And then as all girlfriends do, we proceed to go around the table and put in our two cents worth of advice. The advice is promptly heeded and then A, goes on to point out in a very subtle yet obvious way her latest acquisition, a cute little denim jacket, which we then also proceed to go around the table and tell her how great it looks. We ask her how much the denim jacket was and she says something approximating; “$50, it was on sale” only we know that this, in girl shop-talk really means more around the $59.99 mark. Girls know when it comes to the price of clothes, you round down.

It is the candidness and sincerity of our friendship I dare not become apathetic with. Relationships that create a sense of family and belonging are rare these days and I plan to keep these girls until we become old and senile, like Ethyl. When it comes to having great relationships there also comes a great cost. You might have to sacrifice your time, your feelings and many times your ego. So what has friendship got to do with scones, well nothing really. But I would like to dedicate these scones to all friendships around the world, for better for worse. Your soufflé may have failed to rise and your custard curdled, but with friends and scones like these, who cares.

Bake some scones, brew a pot of tea and get to know someone better.

Orange and Currant Scones
(makes 15 scones)



1¾ cups plain all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, diced
½ cup dried currants
½ cup rosey red orange juice
¼ full cream yoghurt
3 tbsp honey
1 egg
1 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 200˚C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.
Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles pea sized lumps.
Stir in currants. Then make a well in the centre of the bowl.
Mix together orange juice, yoghurt and honey in a separate measuring cup and then pour all at once into the dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll out to approximately 3cm (30mm) in thickness.
Using a cutter, cut out as many portions of dough as possible. Re-roll leftover dough and cut out more portions until all of the dough has been used up.
Place scones on a prepared baking sheet at least 5cm apart.
Whisk together egg and 1 tbsp milk and use this to brush the tops of the scones.
Allow the dough to rest for about 10 minutes.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
Remove from oven and transfer to wire racks to cool.

Serve with your favourite condiment- cream (clotted or thickened), butter, jam or just whatever you fancy.

If the scones are plain, I like them with cream and strawberry jam, if they are fruity like these, I prefer them with a thick slab of butter. But whatever way you like them, make sure you enjoy it with a friend.

It's Here

Some time ago, a lovely lady from Germany named Meeta had a marvellous idea for an event where people around the world sent each other postcards; she aptly named it Blogger Postcards from the World. I thought this was such an inspired thought that I decided to participate, and in fact many other bloggers decided to join in on the fun.
The premise was simple; to send a blogger that you have been allocated a postcard, and then wait to receive one yourself. Somewhat like a global kris kringle.

I promptly sent mine off to Ulrike in Germany, and was delighted to receive a postcard from yet another German. This time my postcard came from Petra of Chili and Ciabatta. This was probably the only time I have ever lamented the fact that I don’t know German, as both these blogs are written in German.

Petra sent me a picturesque postcard of her birthplace Tübingen, in the south of Germany. The postcard now lives on my wall, pegged up with other beautiful pictures from around the world.

Citrus Covered: Rosey Red Oranges

Ever since that faithful rainy day when I decided to abandon the snugness of my doona and make the sleepy trek to Pyrmont Grower’s Market, I haven’t been able keep my mouth shut. About what? Well, about these oranges. Rosey Reds are my new citrus love. And yes, I admit, I am overtly passionate about lots of other foods, namely chocolate, pastries and cookies; however being the fickle foodie that I am, I have fleetingly turned my affections elsewhere. So for the time being, my next few posts are going to involve this beautiful fruit.

What say you are so special about Rosey Reds? Well, you will just have to taste them for yourself. There is no benefit in me providing you with an inextricably verbose description of how wonderful it tastes when the best thing to do is to sample it for yourself. If Rosey Reds are not available where you are from, then my oh my, what a quandary you are in. I will pity you for a moment but then I will proceed in continuing to gorge on my stash of oranges. You are probably thinking, you heartless glutton; and although I am truly apologetic for the lack of sympathy on my part, when it comes to citrus and especially these oranges it is each man/woman for themselves.

Okay, before I resume my citrus binge (and boast), here are some facts about Rosey Reds (courtesy of the little information ticket found in my bag of oranges):

· Rosey Reds flesh gets their vibrant red colour from the presence of Lycopene; a powerful cancer fighting antioxidant also abundant in tomatoes.
· Possesses a unique sweet strawberry-zing flavour, and tastes unlike any other orange.
· Its low acidity not only enhances its eating flavour, but is also great for people who suffer from acid reflux or are not tolerant of highly acidic foods.
· Available in Australia from June to September.
· Rich in Vitamin C.
· High in soluble fibre.
· A great source of potassium and magnesium.
· And thanks to Helen, I also know that Rosey Reds are cross breed of Navel oranges and Ruby Grapefruit

Bill's Ricotta Hotcakes with Leatherwood Honeycomb

I am no longer mad. The chaotic mess that I did call work for the past few weeks has diminished back into the reclusive and relaxed contentment that it is today. I usually don’t mind coming to work, although the past few weeks were unbearable. Thankfully, the annoyance felt before has diminished along with the stress. And although the disdain I still possess towards this channel that we have just launched still exists, I have chosen to just let its noise disappear into the backdrop of my work. I shall only give it my attention when it is absolutely required, and that is the only way we can coexist peacefully.

After that taxing week at work, I set off of on a relaxing four day weekend. Even though I only set off en route for my kitchen, it provided me with the adequate respite. To start off my relaxation crusade, I decided to make Bill Granger’s famed Ricotta Hotcakes, and although the recipe was accompanied by instructions on how to make honeycomb butter, I decided to use the fresh honeycomb I purchased at the recent Pyrmont Grower’s Market instead.

These hotcakes almost never happened and it all began at the aforementioned markets. I was at the Formaggi Ocello stand waiting to buy a tub of their beautiful ricotta; but there was a lovely yet vexingly talkative woman that was occupying all of this poor shopkeeper’s attention. I waited patiently, and waited some more, but still this woman kept complaining about the state of olives in this country or something of the like. While I lingered, impatiently tapping my foot on the rain-soaked grass, I thought- this is a woman who desperately needs a blog of her own. Instead of airing her complaints to stallholders at markets and holding up unsuspecting clientele, she should redirect her whingeing elsewhere, like on a blog!

In any case, I ummed and ahhed about whether I should stay and tolerate these irritating complaints, or whether I should just leave and make a go of the hotcakes another time. Suffice to say, I did stay and it was worth all the standing around and enduring the whining.

The hotcakes proved ethereally fluffy and the ricotta added a slight tanginess similar to what you would get with buttermilk pancakes, without all the density. I cut a few chunks of Leatherwood Honeycomb and placed them atop a stack of hotcakes and drizzled some honey over. This was a great variation on the customary maple syrup that I usually drench all my pan/hot cakes in. I cannot imagine having these hotcakes with anything else, and although I have never tried these hotcakes with any other condiments I will be hesitant to in the future as the taste of Leatherwood Honey is matchless.

Unique to Tasmania, Leatherwood honey is made from the flowering blossoms of the Leatherwood tree. With slight floral notes and spicy tinges, the honey is an acquired taste, and it is not to everyone’s likings. Oddly enough most Australians do not abide by its taste. I however was willing to give this seemingly difficult-tasting honey a go, and the result was a favourable one. Unlike many others I enjoyed the taste; sure it smelt a bit unusual, and it did taste of nectar at first. But different shouldn’t instinctively mean “bad”. The man who sold me the honeycomb mentioned that Australians are apparently too used to the taste of gum honeys, so therefore Leatherwoods honeys have become the eccentric, second-best cousin to these familiar honey varieties. Nonetheless, I am partial when it comes to this honey, and I think it is partly because of the fact that it is unique to Australia. Don’t get me wrong I still love the typical gum honeys, but Leatherwood is definitely a special treat.

Below is Bill’s recipe for Ricotta Hotcakes, including the recipe for Honeycomb Butter. I did not know where to source sugar honeycomb so that is why I opted to use fresh honeycomb. Whether or not you have the honeycomb, be sure to give these hotcakes a bash. I am thinking of making them with some mashed bananas next time; possibly when the exorbitant price for bananas in Australia drop.

Ricotta Hotcakes
(serves 6-8)
The recipe can be found in here and a PDF version can be found here.

1 1/3 cups ricotta
¾ cup milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup plain all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
50g butter

Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a bowl and mix to combine.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the ricotta mixture and mix until incorporated.
Place egg whites in a dry clean bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.
Fold egg whites into the batter using a wide metal spoon. Do this in two batches.
Over a low to medium heat, lightly grease a large non-stick frypan with a small portion of butter.
Drop a ladleful of batter into the pan and cook for two minutes or until the edges have turned golden brown.
Flip the hotcakes over and fry until it is cooked through.
Transfer to a plate. Top with appropriate condiments and dust with icing sugar.

NOTE: Hotcake batter can be stored up to 24 hours covered, in the refrigerator.

Honeycomb Butter

250g unsalted butter, softened,
100g sugar honeycomb, crushed with a rolling pin
2 tbsp honey

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Shape into a log on a plastic wrap, roll, seal and chill in a refrigerator for 2 hours. Store leftover honeycomb butter in the freezer- it’s great on toast.