S.T: Perfect Sunday Brunch: Chocolate Chunk Scones and Homemade Blueberry Jam

Lazy Sundays are something I look forward to every week. I love getting up early in the morning just to take it slow. It starts with a drowsy dawdle into kitchen, poking around the fridge, cupboards and drawers until I get inspired to either hit the egg beaters or leave something out to defrost for later.

This weekend, I had the Gorilla's Dad staying with us and as a treat, I decided to make something oh-so-English and downright scrumptious. So, my usual Sunday morning dawdle led me to make:

Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Scones with Homemade Blueberry Jam, served with a pat of Lurpak spread.

I love scones, they are the epitome of indulgent brunches and high teas. I love the fluffy yet crumbly, dense texture and how well they go with clotted cream and jam. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the best dairy  and making my own is a bit of a stretch. I settled for spicing things up with bittersweet chocolate and homemade jam. 

Both the scones and jam are super easy to make, the jam especially. With the import tax being ridiculously high here, it makes a lot more sense to make my own jam. Plus, I know how its going to taste before opening the jar and I have full control over how tart, how sweet and how pulpy my jam is going to be. 

Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Scones

(Adapted from Good Housekeeping Chocolate Collection)

Makes 8 Large Triagular Scones

Ingredients:

• 75g unsalted good quality butter,diced
• 225g self raising flour, plus extra to dust
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tbsp white granulated sugar
• 150g good quality *Bittersweet Chocolate
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 6 tbsp of milk

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees C ( 180 fan forced). Line your baking tray with non-stick baking paper. 

    Sift baking powder and flour into a large bowl. Add the sugar. Rub in the diced butter until mixture 

    resembles fine breadcrumbs. Set aside.

2) Roughly chop up chocolate into chunks and fold into the butter and flour mixture. Combine the beaten egg and milk together. Make a well in the dry mixture and pour the egg mixture in. 

3) Stir lightly with a round-ended knife until the mixture just comes together into a soft dough, adding a splash more milk if it looks too dry.

4) Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and press into a rectangular shape about 1inch thick.  Using a pastry cutter, cut the dough into triangles. If you have a proper scone cutter, shape dough into a circle and stamp out circles with your cutter. Place the cut dough onto prepared sheet and bake for 10-15 min until risen and golden. Cool on the wire rack.

Tips: 

* You can use any kind of baking chocolate, from dark to milk or white, whatever catches your fancy.

-If your oven is very hot, you can change the temperature to 160 degrees (fan forced) and bake for 20-30 mins. It prevents over browning and maintains a light texture. 

Homemade Blueberry Jam

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 125g fresh blueberries
• ¼ cup of granulated sugar
• Juice of ½ lemon

Method:

1) Rinse the blueberries and remove any that spoilt. Place blueberries, lemon juice and sugar into a deep

    saucepan. 

2) Place the saucepan over medium high heat and stir constantly. Using a masher, gently mush the the blueberries a little to create a slight pulp. The blueberries will start to liquefy and keep stirring and bring mixture to a boil.

3) Once the mixture has reached boiling point, turn the heat down and simmer till most of the liquid has evaporated and mixture thickens. Pour the mixture into a serving bowl. Set aside to cool. Mixture will continue to thicken.

Tips:

-The blueberries might squirt so do be careful, a deep saucepan can save you from a nasty scald.

-It takes awhile for the mixture to thicken, so do be patient and don't panic.

-You can easily triple the recipe and add a little salt as a preservative. Jam can be stored in canning jars and refrigerated up to 2 weeks. 

-If you like a less mushy jam and enjoy having full blueberries in your jam, skip mushing the blueberries and let them naturally reduce. 

- I don't like my jams too sweet so this is the perfect level of sweetness for me. Taste the fruit before deciding how much sugar you would like to add.