Tea Time Treats: Saffron Scones with Rose Petal Jam

This month I am very excited to be taking part in a wonderful monthly blogging challenge and baking event that is set by Karen from Lavender and Lovage (go have a read, you will enjoy) and Kate from What Kate Baked - each one taking turns to host on alternate months.

Here's the info taken from the Lavender and Lovage blog:

This monthly challenge covers one of our most delightful and eternally popular British institutions, Tea Time. Not just cakes and scones either, but pies and more filling supper dishes come under this culinary umbrella, from afternoon teas of delicate and elegant bakes to the more rustic and filling pleasures of high tea and farmhouse suppers, it’s all showcased in this exciting new blogging event. All teatime treats, whether sweet or savoury, breads, scones, sandwiches, pies, pasties, cakes, tarts, desserts, conserves or biscuits (plus many, many more!) will be featured over the coming months. Each monthly challenge will suggest and involve a certain style of bake or popular teatime ingredient, and Karen and Kate will be following the seasons with an eye on many popular feasts and festivals throughout the year.

So what's this month's challenge I hear you ask! Well, it's the humble scone! Whenever I have thought of scones before I just think clotted cream and jam, I never really think of the hundreds of variations to them. Anyway, with challenge set, I thought about what my entry would be. An important factor in deciding though was that I had just ordered a secret ingredient from the internet, Rose Petal Preserve, after reading a wonderful recipe using it over at one of my other favourite blogs Chez Maximka, and I was keen to find other recipes for it. So after trawling the internet I found a recipe called 'Saffron Scones with Rose Petal Jam'. I guess the Rose Petal Jam from Forage Foods would work with any scones, but I was interested to see whether this was a more appropriate flavour combination.

So here's my entry:

Saffron Scones with Rose Petal Jam

The recipe's here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1372306/Recipe-Saffron-scones-rose-petal-jam.html

I made some small alterations:

30 saffron filaments

250g plain flour

50g icing sugar

1 heaped tsp baking power

a pinch of salt

60g unsalted butter chilled and diced

1 medium egg beaten

Grind the saffron filaments, blend with a tablespoon of boiling water and set aside for a few minutes.

Sift the flour, icing sugar and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor and add the salt. Add the butter and whiz to crumbs, incorporate the egg, the saffron infusion and just enough milk to bring the dough together. You can also make the dough by hand.

Roll the dough about 1.5cm thick on a lightly floured work surface and cut scones using fluted cutters (4cm-6cm), rolling the dough only twice. Arrange these spaced well apart on a baking tray and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Brush the tops
of the scones with milk and bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool.

To serve, slit the scones and spread with clotted cream and jam. Serve scattered with rose petals, if wished. The scones are best eaten warm or fresh on the day of making, in which case cover and set aside in a cool place.

VERDICT: The recipe was easy enough to follow, although I think the scones could do with being slightly thicker, but you live and learn. The saffron flavour was very subtle but it complemented the Rose Petal jam perfectly and I felt that I was eating something suitable for a queen.

The best bit about this challenge for me has been the gorgeous smell wafting from my kitchen, the fact that my little boy enjoyed helping me make the scones and of course slathering on the clotted cream and Rose Petal Jam with a self-satisfied smile at having produced such wonderful scones. The Rose Petal Jam from Forage Fine Foods is divine!

Delicate and light with a floral edge!

Rose Petal Preserve is available from www.foragefinefoods.co.uk