Natalie's famous blackberry scones

Well, here they are, as promised 2 x blogs ago!

We are mightily impressed. Well done Natalie for coming up with the idea of putting blackberries into scones. I wish I had thought of it myself years ago, and I have added many interesting things to scones in my baking history (some of them not even intended...!)

here is the basic scone recipe we usually use, and you can add practically anything you like, at the dry ingredients stage.

good basic recipe for scones

(sorry for the imperial measurements - it 's a traditional family mix - simply handed down)

• 10 oz self raising flour (sifted)
• 2 oz margarine or butter
• 1 tbsp (generous) sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 x large egg
• 1/4 pint milk

- add cream of tartar to sieved flour and rub in fat until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs

- add sugar

- add ingredients of choice, for flavour eg. sultanas, dates and walnuts... or blackberries!

- mix in beaten egg/milk mixture to form stiff dough.

- Press lightly out onto floured surface.

(do not over-work dough, or scones will be leathery in texture)

Cut out and cook on a baking tray for approx 12 mins in hot oven.

If you're looking for a 'recipe for success', for a birthday, family event or just a weekend away with friends, then take a look at our website http://www.dovefarm.co.uk/

blackberry and apple

....now that's better.

At risk of sounding like my father, who always used to say, at the mere mention of 'curry'- that the only way to eat rice was in a pudding, with sugar and milk on - I now hear myself saying that the way to enjoy blackberries, is to pick them and put them in a pie with some apple!

that holds more promise of enjoyment for me, than 24 hr web connection, with intravenous texts and email alerts. (I'm afraid you'll have to read previous blog to see where I'm coming from here.)

Natalie our youngest, absolutely loves blackberry picking, and goes off on her own little foraging adventures around the house and garden - usually coming back with three or four squashy berries, which are handed over with the kind of expectation that you just can't ignore, "but I can't turn three berries into a pie Natalie," I try to explain. We usually end up washing them, dipping them into a generous dab of sugar, and eating them there and then.

Numerous animals have benefited from Natalie's enthusiasm for blackberries. The dog quite likes them, the hens seem to relish them, though they struggle to wipe the juice off their beaks, the sheep eat them without showing any appreciation at all, but the donkeys taste and savour them as the hedgerow delicacies that they really are.

When we pick together, we can usually half-fill a margarine tub - plenty for a blackberry and apple crumble, our personal family favourite. Natalie wants to try putting them in scones next. I'll let you know how we get on. www.dovefarm.co.uk