Scones and Strawberry Jam

Middlesbrough Food Partnership and Climate Action Middlesbrough join forces at the Festival of Thrift on the 21st and 22nd of September to celebrate sustainable living and encourage sustainability for the people of Middlesbrough and further afield! With music, song, dance, free food and more, the Festival is a fantastic way to highlight the joys of sustainable living and show that being sustainable doesn’t mean giving up the world!

As part of the Festival of Thrift, Middlesbrough Food Partnership and Climate Action Middlesbrough will be there to serve homemade vegan scones with homemade strawberry jam: Jam is easy to make and is a great way to use up spare, unused fruit, and scones are themselves a fantastic way to use up spare store cupboard ingredients such as that baking powder and flour you’ve yet to use! Grab the recipes we’ll be using below:

SCONES

Ingredients

  • 350g self-raising flour, extra for dusting
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 95g vegan vegetable spread
  • 150ml soy milk, plus extra to glaze
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar to dust
  • Homemade jam, to serve

Method

Step 1

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Rub in the vegetable spread until you have fine breadcrumbs. You can also gradually pulse it in a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Step 2

Gradually stir the milk into the flour mixture until you have a smooth dough.

Step 3

Lightly dust your surface with flour and gently roll out the scone dough until 2cm thick. Transfer onto a baking tray lined with parchment and put it in the fridge for 30 mins to firm up.

Step 4

Remove the dough from the fridge and using a 7cm cutter, cut out the scones. Put them, top side down, onto another baking sheet lined with paper, leaving a 2cm gap between each one. This gives the scones an even top. Brush with the extra milk, making sure that it doesn’t drip onto the sides (otherwise they will rise unevenly). Put the scones in the freezer for 15 mins. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Remove from the freezer and bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown.  Dust with icing sugar and serve with Home-made jam.

STRAWBERRY JAM

Ingredients

  • 1kg fresh or frozen strawberries
  • 750g sugar
  • 125ml liquid pectin
  • 45ml fresh lemon Juice

Method

Step 1

Prepare the strawberries by washing them and allowing them to dry, too much water and the jam won’t set easily.

Step 2

Put the strawberries in a bowl and gently toss through the sugar. Leave uncovered at room temperature for 12 hrs or overnight.

Step 3

Add the strawberry mixture into the pan with the lemon juice. Set over a low heat and cook very gently. Add one or two cup saucers to a refrigerator (This will help test the jam’s set later)

Step 4

Using a masher crush the strawberries to aid the dissolving and cooking of the jam, turn up the heat to start bubbling the jam and bringing it to the boil. Use a spoon to skim any scum that has risen to the surface and discard this.

Step 5

Boil hard for 5-10 mins until the jam has reached 105C on a preserving thermometer, then turn off the heat. If you don’t have a thermometer, spoon a little jam onto one of the cold saucers from the refrigerator. Leave for 30 secs, then push with your finger, if the jam wrinkles and doesn’t flood to fill the gap, it is ready. If not, turn the heat back on and boil for 2 mins more, then turn off the heat and do the wrinkle test again. Repeat until ready.

Step 6

Leave the jam to settle for 15 mins. Meanwhile, sterilise your jars and ladle into the warm jars, filling to just below the rim.