SOFTEST Apple Cinnamon Scones

Fresh, light and fluffy apple and cinnamon scones are a weekend winter treat! Cinnamon scented dough and frosting pair perfectly with this apple studded scone. Spread with butter, cream or your favourite jam. If you love scones, this is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

I'm all about simple pleasures nowadays Dear Reader especially imbued with a twist of nostalgia and there's nothing better than making a fresh batch of scones. It's the best weekend baking project and this produces six luscious, soft and dreamy textured scones with pops of apple and a lovely cinnamon aroma. Scones aren't tricky at all, they're one of the simplest things to bake at home provided you have a reliable recipe.

Tip for making scones:

1 - Always use buttermilk instead of regular milk in scones-this helps keep the texture soft as the acids in buttermilk help break down the gluten strands. To make buttermilk simply acidulate milk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar until it looks curdled.

2 - Don't cut the scones too small. I prefer larger scones as they remain more moist in texture.

3 - Scones are best eaten within 24 hours of baking. They can be frozen once baked too and just heat them up in the oven.

4 - Always serve scones warm-reheat them in oven at 185C/365F for 5 minutes.

5 - The icing is optional on these scones but I like it because you can just eat the scones with butter with the icing on top. If you omit the icing, brush scones with eggwash (a beaten egg) before baking.

Other scones recipes: The Tea Room's Fabulous Scone Recipe, Small Batch Buttermilk Scones, Rose Turkish Delight scones; Orange & Cranberry Scones; Rosemary, Lemon and Golden Syrup Scones; Date & Ginger Scones. If you're in the mood for savoury scones try Savoury Pumpkin, Cheese & Rosemary Scones!, Olive Oil Scones with Nduja and Cheese, Cheesy Olive & Herb Scones or these amazing Green Grass Scones. Or if you're feeding a crowd there is this Raspberry & White Chocolate Scone Cake!

These are my contribution for International Scone Week 2021 hosted by Tandy!

Speaking of nostalgia, I'm a bit stuck for entertainment and rewatching a lot of tv shows. I watch reruns of The Office and Schitt's Creek because they're pleasant, funny and reliably good and it's like seeing your friends again. However I have found a few good new shows and I wanted to share them with you in case you were in need of some good tv recommendations.

The Act (Binge) is based on a true crime story. I had heard about this case on podcasts but watching it fleshes out all the quirks and brings it to light even better. It's based on the highly dysfunctional relationship of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee Blanchard. Dee Dee has a mental illness called Munchausen by Proxy which is where a caretaker creates or causes an illness to their charge in order to gain sympathy. It's a form of child or elder abuse and if you google this illness, pictures of the two come up as the first result as it is such a famous case. It's very sad, there are no winners out of this whole situation but it is fascinating and the actors Joey King and Patricia Arquette who play the mother and daughter pair are incredible. I followed this series by watching the documentary about it.

The Good Fight (SBS on demand) Season 5. One of my favourite shows is back and it's always a bit surreal to watch a tv show so current that it's referencing COVID-19. This is a spin off of The Good Wife and I'm very partial to legal shows and it has a lot of strong women in this with a really good sense of humour too.

The White Lotus (Binge) I hate being drip fed shows, like I haaate it (what is it? 1998?) but I accidentally got hooked on The White Lotus because I thought it was a movie and then before I know it, I was deep into it and jonesing for another episode. It is a clever commentary on social structure wrapped up in a comedic mystery set in a lush Hawaiian hotel resort (it's shot at the Four Seasons on Maui). I love the character Armond who is played with an Aussie actor Murray Bartlett - as a traveller you know that there's always an Australian GM at a hotel and these characters definitely ring true as resort guests. The only problem? Another two weeks til it finishes!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you have any tv show recommendations? Are you a scone lover? ?

Apple Cinnamon Scones

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 6 large scones or 9 small ones

• 2 cups/260g plain all purpose flour plus more for rolling and shaping
• 3.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 115g/1 stick butter, cold and cubed
• 160ml/5.4flozs. buttermilk
• 2 apples/250g/8.8ozs total, cored and grated
• 200g/7ozs. icing sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1.5-2 tablespoons water

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment. Place the flour, baking powder and cream of tartar in a food processor and whiz to combine. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until it becomes like fine sand in texture.

Thermomix instructions: place flour, baking powder and cream of tartar in bowl and set to 10 seconds speed #5. Then add butter and set to 15 seconds speed #5. I empty the contents into a bowl and then place the cored apple wedges into the Thermomix bowl and set to 10 seconds speed #7.

Step 2 - Empty into a bowl and add the buttermilk and stir to combine and then add apples to form a cohesive mixture-you may need a little flour to this. Shape into a round or rectangle and pat til about an inch thick. Cut into squares - this makes 6 generously sized scones and place on the parchment. Bake for 20 minutes.

Step 3 - Mix the icing sugar and cinnamon. Then add water 1 tablespoon at a time. You want the icing thick in texture. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe drizzles over the scones and allow to set firm. Serve warm with jam, cream or butter.