raspberry, goat’s cheese & white chocolate scones

These are big puffy cafe-style raspberry drop scones studded with white chocolate and goat’s cheese. They’re nothing particularly original, just the kind of soft-centered and crisp-crusted hefty scone I like!

This recipe uses the same base as these fenugreek and sesame scones; prior to these, I made a lot of drop scones that I didn’t love. Compared to most recipes, this dough has a higher moisture content which makes it easier to work in soft mix ins, and seems to better facilitate a good puff in the oven and more tender crumb.

After patting the dough into balls, I give them a roll in granulated sugar, which makes for a crisp crust on top and caramelized crust on the bottom. The scones do need to bake at lower temperature than usual or the bottoms scorch (caramelized bottoms are lovely, but the burnt ones not so much). That being said, don’t be afraid to give these scones a really good bake! Browning produces the crisp crust, while the centres stay moist.

They’re pretty basic, but I love them!

• Servings: 6 large scones
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Further adapted from my previous adaptation of Julie van Rosendaal’s scones.

• 100g greek yoghurt
• 150g half-and-half (or use half cream, half milk)
• 230g flour, half all-purpose and half whole-wheat
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 15g granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 100g crumbled goat’s cheese
• 60g white chocolate, chopped
• 85g fresh raspberries
• more granulated sugar for coating (or something like turbinado would be nice!)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Whisk the yoghurt and half-and-half in a small bowl until smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and thyme, if using. Add the butter, tossing to coat the pieces and separate them, then cut into the flour with a pastry whisk/two knives (or alternatively, rub in with your fingers) until the mixture appears crumbly. Add the goat cheese, white chocolate and raspberries and toss together. Then pour in the yoghurt mix and stir gently until a soft dough is just formed.

Divide the dough into six portions (each about 130g) and pat each one into a ball. Roll each ball in the granulated sugar until coated all over and space evenly apart on the prepared tray.

Pop into the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 350F. Bake around 30 minutes or until nicely browned and cooked through.

fenugreek, goat’s cheese & sesame scones

All sorts of good things come covered in sesame: montreal style bagels, this cake, these cookies. Guess what is also quite good rolled in sesame seeds and baked in a hot oven for a toasted nutty exterior…

Dried fenugreek (methi) leaves have a gentle buttery fragrance. It’s mirrored in these scones with plenty of butter; meanwhile wads of soft goat’s cheese add a slight tartness and a bit of ground coriander adds aroma. (For an expansive introduction to fenugreek, read more here!)

I’ve tried a few different drop scone recipes over the years to get to this one. Generally speaking I’ve found much better results with a higher hydration recipe, which allows large scones to puff up to their full tender and fluffy potential. The batter will feel wet, but it’s okay – just gently pat into balls (plus all those sesame seeds will really stick!).

• Servings: 6 hefty scones
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Adapted from Julie van Rosendaal’s drop scone recipe.

• 230g flour, half whole wheat and half all purpose
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 3 generous tbsp (4g) dried fenugreek (methi) leaves (caveat: mine were very, very old, so you may want to use less depending on your fenugreek!)
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 120 cold butter, cut into small dice
• 100g goat cheese, crumbled into chunks
• 200g half-and-half cream
• 50g greek yoghurt
• about 1/3 cup untoasted sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, fenugreek and coriander. Add the butter and toss to coat the cubes with flour, then cut into the flour with a pastry whisk/two knives (or alternatively, rub in with your fingers) until the mixture appears crumbly. Add the goat cheese and toss together.

Whisk together the cream and yoghurt. Pour over the dry ingredients, tossing together with a fork until all the flour is moistened and a rough dough is formed. The dough will be soft and thick.

Place the sesame seeds in a shallow dish. Divide the dough into six equal portions (each about 115g) and gently pat into balls. Roll all over in the sesame seeds to coat completely. Evenly space the scones apart on the prepared baking tray.

Bake for 10 minutes at 425F, then lower the temperature to 350F for another 10-15 minutes or so, until the scones are browned and cooked through.

strawberry rhubarb & poppy seed coffee cake

it is my favourite season: rhubarb season! I haven’t actually baked anything with rhubarb yet this spring, but I do have this cake from last year – a fruity, crumbly take on a coffee cake made with a yoghurt poppy seed cake, chopped strawberries and rhubarb, and a topping of spiced almond crumb.

The wonders of coffee cake: it’s dessert and it’s breakfast! Also okay for lunch! Honestly, any meal!

This cake was inspired by Brown Bear Bakery, a bakery I would love to one day visit! I am always excited by the combination of strawberry, rhubarb and a whole grain streusel – I love using this combination in one way or another as another homage to the strawberry rhubarb crumbles (aka the number one and also only dessert) that I grew up with.

• Servings: 8-inch square cake
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Cake inspired by Brown Bear Bakery. Crumb adapted from Epicurious. Cake adapted from the sour cream coffee cake recipe in A Good Bake by Melissa Weller.

equipment: 8-inch (20cm) square baking pan

spiced almond crumb

• 85g butter, melted
• 40g brown sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• pinch nutmeg
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 100g whole wheat flour
• 25g finely ground almonds
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds

poppy seed & yoghurt coffee cake

• 120g all-purpose flour  
• 60g whole wheat
•  1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 12g (about 1 tbsp + 1 tsp) poppy seeds
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 100g granulated sugar
• finely grated zest of ½ lemon
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 225g greek yoghurt (or sour cream)

fruit

• 140g rhubarb, chopped
• 140g strawberries, chopped
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp tapioca starch

For the crumb, melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the sugar, spices and salt and stir to combine. Then add the flour and ground almonds and stir until combined. Break up into lumps and toss in the flaked almonds.

For the cake, preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8″ square tin and line with a parchment paper sling.

Whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Place the butter, sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a standmixer and cream until light and fluffy (or by hand with a wooden spoon). Add the vanilla and egg and beat until combined. Finally, whisk in the yoghurt. Add the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Dollop into the bottom of the prepared tin and spread into an even layer with an offset spatula. The batter will be thick.

For the fruit, toss together the fruit, sugar and tapioca. Scatter over the batter.

Finally, scatter the crumb overtop of the cake. Squeeze a bit of the crumb mixture in your hands so it holds together in lumps and then break it up over the top of the cake.

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes (do a first check at 30 minutes) or until an inserted skewer is removed clean or with just a couple crumbs clinging to it. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then cut into squares.

zucchini beet morning glory muffins

The muffin spectrum holds un-iced cakes on one end, early bird dessert masquerading in a more casual form, while the other side houses the muffin traditionalists, hefty with whole grains, nuts, fruits or vegetables. I think both ends are equally wonderful but today we come from I think of as the penultimate muffin-muffin: the morning glory. It’s the have-it-all muffin – have the carrots and spices from the carrot muffin, plus the apple from the apple muffin and the raisins from the bran muffin and the coconut, pecan and orange zest from the who-knows-what muffins. In other words, it’s a muffin of the muffins!

I had my first (of a total of two, aside from these) morning glory muffin a couple of years ago at a random downtown cafe. I was really just looking for something to eat to tide myself over for the next few hours but I was surprised by how much I loved the – to put it inarticulately – muffin-like flavour. And as I was thinking about it, morning glory muffins, have so many flavours that go so well with beets – apple, spices, nuts and citrus.

That, and I had a lot of beets.

I also had a lot of zucchini.

These are a morning glory muffins made to feature the seasonal produce that my parents tend to grow in excess: beets (instead of carrot) and zucchini (instead of apple). These two substitutes have similar moisture content and texture, making it an easy swap for late summer garden veg. I’ve also use dried cranberries instead of raisins as I think they jive well with the beets, but either is lovely.

While consulting some recipes, I found that they all seemed to follow the same basic ratios – about 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs, 2 cups of carrots and 1 apple. It was in the ratio of oil to other liquids that things varied – this allrecipes one, at the height of decadence, called for 1 cup of oil, down to Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe which used only 1/3 of a cup, the rest replaced with orange juice and applesauce. I decided to go middle of the road most closely following King Arthur Flour with about 2/3 cup of oil and some additional milk. I’ve also used 100% whole wheat flour because, of course.

One last thing – I find raw beets are quite hard to grate by hand (even harder than carrots) so I recommend using the grating attachment on a food processor if you have it.

• Servings: 12 muffins
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Adapted from King Arthur Flour and Sally’s Baking Addiction.

• 245g (2 cups) whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice or nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 37g (1/2 cup) unsweetened shredded coconut, plus extra to sprinkle on top
• 80g (generous 1/2 cup) chopped pecans, plus extra to sprinkle on top
• 3 large eggs
• 100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 133g neutral oil
• 60g (1/4 cup) milk or orange juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange, finely grated
• 200g (about 2 cups) peeled and shredded raw beets* see note
• 200g zucchini, coarsely grated and squeezed dry (about 1 cup after squeezing)
• 80g (generous 1/2 cup) dried cranberries or raisins, soaked in hot tea to plump, and then drained and patted dry

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, spices, salt, coconut and pecans.

In a medium-large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, milk, vanilla and orange zest until smooth. Then stir in the shredded beets, shredded zucchini and drained dried cranberries.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together with a wooden spoon until you no longer see streaks of dry flour and all the flour is moistened. Distribute the batter amongst the 12 muffin cups – you’ll fill the cups up all the way, which gives a nice domed muffin once baked.

Place in the oven for 5 minutes at 425F, then lower the temperature to 350F. Bake another 15-20 minutes or so, rotating partway through baking. Check doneness by poking a thin wooden skewer into the centre of a muffin and look for it to be clean or with only to be a few crumbs clinging.

Note: Raw beets are very hard and take quite a lot of work to grate by hand. I recommend using grating attachment of a food processor if you have, as this makes much quicker work of it.

Updated Sept 2023.

blueberry brunsviger

Brunsviger, a Danish yeasted cake baked with a cinnamon-spiced brown sugar glaze, is what you get from crossing a sticky bun with coffee cake. Thanks to a focaccia-like dimpling, a freshly baked brunsviger is a study in texture: the topping crisps on the top of the bread, and leaves behind cavernous dimples laden with molten brown sugar – and burst blueberries, an addition I adore.

It is hefty with sugar and in this case I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When I first came across a recipe for brunsviger, I skimmed past it. In part because I am always overwhelmed with the array of different Scandinavian desserts and end up quickly flipping through every page, and in part because I thought I had this recipe pegged as a brown sugar topped yeasted cake. Which it is – but I had completely missed the point of the rugged topography of the cake and the textural contrast that ensues. This recipe is the epitome of unassuming, quiet brilliance. As is a lot of Nordic recipes, the basic ingredients are the same: the flour and butter and sugar and eggs and maybe cinnamon or cardamom, but then how they’re put together is what makes each dessert.

This version is not quite a faithful brunsviger. I love adding fruit to dessert and thought that the dimples of brunsviger would be a fitting receptacle for small blueberries – and it is. They bake cradled in sugar and cinnamon until syrupy, a fittingly cozy tribute to the end of summer and entering fall (or anytime! I’ve done it with both fresh and frozen blueberries). I’ve also modified the dough to be partially whole grain and flecked with orange peel. It bakes up soft and fluffy regardless. Cut it into squares and be sure to have with coffee.

One thing to note – compared to fresh, frozen blueberries tend to release more juices while the cake is baking, resulting in a more voluminous and bubbly sugar syrup, and deeper divots in the dough. Either way is equally delicious, so use whichever you have. But be careful especially with the frozen blueberries as the syrup may bubble over – be sure to place the baking tin on a baking tray to catch any drips.

• Servings: 8x8 inch cake which can be cut into 9 or 16 pieces
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Adapted from Magnus Nilsson’s The Nordic Baking Book.

dough

• 120g warm milk
• 1 tsp (4g) instant yeast
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 60g soft butter
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 100g whole grain spelt flour or whole wheat flour
• 130g all-purpose flour

topping

• 75g butter
• 120g brown sugar
• scant tbsp ground cinnamon
• a couple pinches kosher salt
• 80-100g small fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw beforehand) 

Butter an 8×8″ or 9×9″ square pan and line with a parchment paper sling. 

To make the dough, combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a standmixer. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until a dough is formed. Knead with the dough hook for about 8-10 minutes or until a very soft, smooth and elastic dough is formed. 

Stretch and pat the dough out evenly into the prepared pan. Cover and let rise until about doubled in height, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

Near the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 400F.

Prepare the topping once the dough is risen. Combine the butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small saucepan and heat gently until the mixture is melted. 

Dampen your fingers to prevent them from sticking to the dough, the press evenly spaced deep dimples into the dough, rather like dimpling focaccia. Scatter the blueberries over top, mostly aiming for the dimples. Dampen your fingers once again, and then press the blueberries into the dimples to ensure that they are blueberry-filled dimples.

Finally, spoon the warm sugar mixture evenly overtop. 

Place the pan on a tray (this will catch any drips just in case the sugar/butter mixture bubbles over). Place in the oven and bake around 18-20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 190F. 

Let cool a bit on a wire rack. Run a knife around the two edges without parchment paper and use the parchment paper sling to lift the bread from the tin. Slice into 9 or 16 squares and eat while still warm. If you have leftovers, be sure to warm them up before eating!

Updated Oct 2022.

everything granola

I call this “everything granola” as it doesn’t have a specific flavour profile that I would use to describe it (canonically, in the tentimestea universe, three flavours) – rather it’s a mix of nuts and seeds and a menagerie of variously hued dried fruits. Substitutions galore, of course!

This is the also the budget granola in comparison to my old favourite recipe (which I would only make on a rare occasion due to bougie ingredients): honey instead of maple syrup, pecans instead of pistachios, and whole almonds instead of sliced almonds (the sliced ones are quite a bit more expensive!). This recipe is also faster and more convenient with a shorter bake, no intermittent mixing during its oven stay and all packed into one baking tray.

The features I mentioned above are quite deliberate – for a while, my roommate and I ate this granola nearly every day for breakfast which entailed making a new batch every few weeks, so I came to appreciate being able to cut down a bit on our Bulk Barn bill and preparation time.

This granola recipe uses egg white, something I first came across from a Deb Perelman. The egg white acts as an additional binder, helping you generate a chunky granola while being less reliant on the sugary binders. You whisk it until frothy (which helps break up the strands so it can be more evenly distributed) and then mix it into the granola right at the end. As I’ve done with my previous granola versions, I’ve taken out the sweeteners aside from what is needed to bind the granola. Using lots of nuts also balances the sweetness of the dried fruit.

I find the baking time affects this granola quite a bit. A shorter baking time is sweeter tasting and the cinnamon flavour is a bit more apparent; this is what I tend to do most as it was my roommate’s preference. In this case, be sure to use pre-toasted nuts to ensure a deep nutty flavour (you can even toast the nuts as the oven preheats). A longer baking time results in a less sweet granola but also toastier flavour. The cinnamon can burn a bit and become lost, but I compensate for that in the recipe by adding half of the cinnamon to the granola at first, and sprinkling the other half overtop after it comes out from the oven. Longer or shorter both work – it depends on your preference!

• Servings: 1-2 jars of granola
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Proportions based on my previous adaptation of Alton Brown’s granola and the egg white and baking strategy based on Deb Perelman.

• 300g large flake rolled oats
• 120g lightly toasted pecan halves, two thirds left whole and one third coarsely chopped
• 80g lightly toasted almonds, most coarsely chopped and a few left whole
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 50g oil
• 75-80g honey
• ¾ tsp kosher salt (reduce if using table salt)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 cups of dried fruit (around 200-220g) – I usually use a mix of everything I have on hand like dried cherries, cranberries, sultana raisins, golden raisins and quartered apricots

Preheat oven to 275F. Line a standard size half sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Combine the oats, nuts, and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl. Separately, whisk together the oil, honey, salt, 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon and vanilla until emulsified. Pour the oil mixture over the oats and mix with a wooden spoon until everything is evenly coated.

Whisk the egg white until frothy, then drizzle over top and mix until combined. Spread the granola over the prepared pan into an even layer.

Bake for around 30 minutes or until the granola is lightly browned (you can bake it longer for a toastier, and less sweet tasting, granola). Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tsp of cinnamon over top, as evenly as you can. Fresh from the oven the granola will seem quite soft, but it will firm up once it cools. Once cooled, sprinkle with the dried fruit, and then transfer to a jar.

The granola will be crispiest on the first couple days! After that, thanks to the dried fruit, it will gradually soften a bit.

whole wheat honey ginger scones

Okay, so another Black Bird Bakery inspired favourite… honey ginger scones! They’re rustic and warming, gingery, and a bit sweet and spiced. I’ve made my version whole wheat as it just goes with the nubbly gingery ethos of these scones. I’ve also included some bonus spices for fun, but of course, ginger remains the star with fresh, ground and candied all included here.

whole wheat ginger honey scones

• Servings: about 5-7 scones
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Adapted from Martin Philip via Food52.

• 240g whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 90g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 tbsp chopped candied ginger
• 155g heavy cream
• 50g greek yoghurt
• 45g honey
• 1 1/2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• beaten egg for egg wash
• granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom and nutmeg. Separately, whisk together the cream, yoghurt, honey and fresh grated ginger and set aside.

Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss until the cubes are coated with flour. Rub the butter into the flour, spreading the cubes of butter between your thumb and fingers to spread the butter into flakes. Toss in the chopped candied ginger.

Add the cream mixture to the dry ingredients stir until a rough dough is formed. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough onto itself a few times until it comes together and all the flour is moistened.

Pat out the dough to about 2-3cm (3/4-1″) thick. Use an 8cm (3″) cutter or glass to cut out scones. Collect the scraps, mush together, and pat out again to cut more. Repeat until most of the dough is used. Depending on the thickness you pat out the dough you may get 5-7 scones (I prefer thicker and fewer, personally!).

Arrange the scones on the prepared tray. Brush the tops with eggwash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.

salted dark chocolate & almond bars

Homemade granola bars and I have had a long sordid and crumbly history. Recipes that I came across often relied on honey as an important binder which meant that it was used in quantities that semi-obviated why I wanted to make my own granola bars in the first place – I wanted to make something much less sweet! When I tried to reduce the sweetness, the recipes I made trembled at the sight of a knife, crumbling into pieces once I tried to cut them into bars.

A couple of years ago I thought that I had finally come across a granola bar that didn’t crumble and wasn’t too sweet, as it used more nut butter as a binder. But when I tried to make them a second time, full of confidence, huzzah for hubris! as they too crumbled on me.

white cheddar & za’atar scones

My introduction to Bouchon Bakery  by Thomas Keller & Sebastien Rouxel began with my sister waxing poetic on everything she had made from the book. Even the chocolate chip cookies were probably the best cookies she had ever made. This scone recipe is a riff off of their savoury bacon cheddar scones, and it definitely makes for a good scone!

What’s that – a good scone? Yes – a good scone: i.e. the perennial struggle! There are many things that I tend to make terribly over and over again, scones one amongst them. There have been tough scones, flat scones, scones that are just straight up proper paperweights.

These scones are actually, like, good scones – baking up light while tasting like blocks of butter and browned cheese and herbs.

In the oven the scones perform a dramatic rise – the combined effort of baking powder, crumb-sized chunks of butter and shredded cheese. The crisp exterior yields to a tender interior with a subtle flake. I’ve used a aged white cheddar for nuttiness; shreds at the scone surface brown, bubble and crisp. Any herb will do but the za’atar, a mix of herbs (which can vary considerably from type to type), also this great toastiness from the sesame – the idea comes from a scone my aunt mentioned to me to once, and I love the combination.

While all food is political, za’atar is perhaps the top student in that class – having been weaponized in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Food can be an integral part of cultural identity, and can be used to legitimize and promote a culture, whereas denial and appropriation can be used to undermine a culture. In the case of za’atar, a nearly half century old Israeli law against collecting wild herbs used in za’atar has been employed to impede access to za’atar for Palestinians living in the West Bank. You can read more here in this Vice article, or if you prefer to listen, this Racist Sandwich podcast episode.

Oh, and the scone dough is chilled before baking, which is perfect for making the night before and the baking in the morning to bring in to class. Here, it’s a rather large recipe as I last made them for a pre-pandemic event, but feel free to halve the recipe for a suitable scale.

cheddar & za'atar scones

• Servings: about 10 scones
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Adapted from the bacon cheddar scones in Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel. Makes around 10 8x4cm scones (I’ve also made twice as many mini ones – whatever you so prefer!).

• 200g cake flour
• 100g whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp za’atar
• 130g cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 130g aged white cheddar, coarsely grated
• 120g heavy cream, plus a couple tablespoons more if needed
• 90g greek yoghurt

Whisk together flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and za’atar. Add the cold butter chunks, tossing in with your hands to coat the pieces in flour. Then use your fingertips to rub in the cold butter until crumbly in texture. Toss in the cheese.

Add the cream and yoghurt, mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands until a rough dough is just about formed. If it seems a bit dry, add 1-3 more tablespoons of cream as needed to bring together the dough. Knead a few times in the bowl just to bring it together. Turn out the dough onto a piece of parchment paper and roll into a rectangular shape that is 3/4″ tall (mine was ~19×22 cm in the version photographed, but roll to whatever size you like!). Cover in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Use a large knife to trim the edges of the dough to make for nice clean edges (the trimmings can be mashed together into one or two bonus scones). Cut into about 10-12 rectangles for larger scones (I did a 2×5 grid to make scones that were 8x4cm) or cut into 20-24 scones for mini scones. Arrange on a baking sheet, brush with a bit of extra milk or cream and sprinkle with some additional za’atar.

Bake until golden, around 35-40 minutes. Break a scone in half to check for doneness on the inside too – it will likely still appear quite moist, but cooked. 

Updated Mar 2023.

green curry banana bread

Growing up, I lived vicariously through the menus of far-away bakeries. (I still live this way.) One time, likely circa 2010, while obsessively perusing bakery websites, I came across a green curry banana bread at milk bar. Since then, on the rather rare occasions I’ve made banana bread, I’ve transposed the combination of Thai green curry paste and coconut from one banana bread recipe to the next until I settled on my current favourite adaptation. Because while I’ve never been too big a fan of banana bread, there are exceptions. For example, an exception flavoured with green curry paste and (this part just began a few years ago, but thank goodness it did:) crested with a crispy coconut frangipane of sorts.