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Fare

Rosemary scones with rhubarb, vanilla and rose jam

25th March 2020 by Tori

With spring comes fresh vibrant produce, more specifically, England's favourite pink vegetable, Rhubarb. For those planning a garden picnic this week, try this seasonal recipe of rosemary scones topped with homemade rhubarb, vanilla and rose jam. Here's Jess Davis in the kitchen of our reclaimed engine house, The Stack.

Ingredients

For the scones;

350g of self-raising flour, plus more for dusting
One-quarter teaspoon of salt
One teaspoon of baking powder
100g of cold butter, cut into cubes
75g of caster sugar
175ml of milk
Juice of half a lemon
Two beaten egg yolks to glaze, use rich yolk eggs for a gorgeous golden colour
Fresh rosemary to sprinkle on the top

For the rhubarb, vanilla and rose jam;

250g of roughly chopped rhubarb
250g of hulled and sliced strawberries
One whole vanilla pod
One teaspoon of rose water
500g of jam sugar

Method

Start by preheating your oven to 200°C for the scones. Meanwhile, mix the flour, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the cold cubed butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. At this stage stir in the caster sugar.

Next, warm the milk in a small saucepan until warm but not hot. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. The heat of the milk and the sour juice will thicken to the consistency of thin yoghurt. Add the warm milk concoction to your bowl of the floury breadcrumb mixture and stir together with a butter knife.

Once mixed, tip onto a floured surface and bring together. The less you work the dough, the lighter the scones. Roll to approximately one inch thick and use a round metal cutter to press out your scones from the dough. Have the bag of flour to hand to dip the cutter in between each scone cut to stop it sticking. Transfer your scones to a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and with a pastry brush, paint the top of each scone gently with your beaten egg yolk mixture. Finally, sprinkle each scone with a little chopped rosemary and bake in your hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes until risen and golden brown.

While that's in the oven, prepare the jam by simply adding all the ingredients to a heavy-based saucepan and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for around 10 to 15 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the fruit starts to break down but still has some texture from the rhubarb. Remove from the heat and whilst it’s still warm, transfer into an airtight jar.

Once the scones have slightly cooled but are still warm, serve with a healthy spoonful of jam, a bravely large dollop of Rodda's Cornish clotted cream and a big pot of English breakfast tea.