This twist on the traditional scone, including chocolate and cherry jam into the dough, makes them eminently suitable for a Valentine’s day breakfast, tea or even a dessert. They are served with cherry jam-rippled cream.
Prep time 20 minutes/Cook time 25 minutes/Makes 10
Ingredients:
75g (3/10 cup) unsalted butter
375g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbs brown sugar
35g (1/3 cup) good-quality cocoa powder
100g (3 ½ oz) dark (70%) chocolate, half chopped, half melted and cooled
165ml (2/3 cup) full cream milk, plus extra to brush
250ml (1 cup) cherry jam
250g (1 cup) sour cream
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (160C fan/360F/Gas mark 4).
Freeze the butter for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa, sugar and a pinch of salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Add the chopped chocolate then coarsely grate in the slightly frozen butter and, using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture to form crumbs. Add the milk and 1/2 cup cherry jam and gently stir to bring the mixture together.
Turn the mixture out onto a lightly-floured work surface and knead lightly to form a soft dough. Roll the dough out to a 3.5cm (1 ½ in) thick round. Use a floured, 6cm (2 ½ in) diameter pastry cutter to cut scones. Transfer to a lined baking tray, leaving a 2cm (1 in) gap between each. Re-roll any leftover dough and stamp out more rounds.
Brush the scones lightly with extra milk, then bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. Remove and set aside to cool.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the tops of the scones. Whip the sour cream to stiff peaks, then fold through the remaining ½ cup of jam. Serve scones with the jam-rippled cream.
