Peachy

I've become rather addicted to scones recently. I've started using them as my go-to breakfast option when we don't have any bread. I think it's because the cricket season makes me want high tea with scones and strawberry jam. There'll be plenty of time for that later in the summer, so at the moment I'm doing a bit of experimenting.

We don't have an indulgent breakfast every week, but probably once a month I decide it's time to celebrate a lazy Sunday with a spot of baking.

Another reason that I decided we should have scones was because I was desperate to try one of my newest jam recipes. Yes, it's that time again, I've started on the preserving kick! I had a flurry in January with the marmalade season, and then a few chutneys got tried, but then I tailed off a little. Partly because there is less fruit around at the tail end of winter, but mostly because I ran out of jars! However, good friends of ours recently - and very kindly indeed - donated their kilner and preserving jars to us. With two little ones now they rarely have time to watch children and boiling sugar, so things were handed over to me. How lovely is that!Remember I alluded to a big project coming up? Well this jam may well be part of it, and I wanted to test it, and more importantly I wanted the resident North London Kitchen taster to try it. What better way to do that than to have it on fresh hot scones.So I whipped up a batch of sour cherry and vanilla scones and we ate them in the sunshine topped with my new peach and mango jam. I'm not sure which went down better, the scones or the preserve!I won't share the jam recipe just yet, but I do recommend the scones. They are light and fluffy and a little too indulgent for breakfast, so call it brunch and no-one will notice!
Sour Cherry Vanilla Scones: Makes 4

4 oz of Self-raising flour
1 oz cold butter
3/4 oz sugar
1tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
handful dried sour cherries.
Cold milk.

Preheat the oven to 200C, line a baking tray.

Put the flour, sugar, soda and tartar in a bowl and combine. Then rub in the cold butter. Add the sour cherries, and then the vanilla, and enough milk to just make a dough (probably about a tablespoon, or a little more). Roll out the dough - but not too thin, as it won't rise much, so bare this in mind. I make mine pretty thick. Cut our four rounds. Place on the baking tray and bake for 1o mins. Rest for as long as you can hold out, then cut and top with your favourite jam.