To the average person there's nothing particularly special about this Monday 18th January 2016. But for me, there's something very exciting happening: it's Winnie the Pooh's 90th birthday today! I've been head over heels for Winnie the Pooh since I can remember refusing to leave Tesco's at the age of six until my Mum brought me a foot high talking Pooh Bear toy. And I still have him to this day, along with an uncountable amount of other Winnie the Pooh memorabilia. I have other toys, money boxes, badges, mugs, stamps etc. etc. You name it, I've probably got it.
Saying all this though, some of you might be shouting at your screens "IT'S NOT HIS BIRTHDAY!!!" because the actual anniversary of Winnie the Pooh is still debated. Some say it's when Milne was first published in a newspaper, and others say it should be when the first Winnie the Pooh book was published. Take your pick of when you'd like it to be, but for me it's today on Milne's birthday. My mum even sent me an adorable 90th birthday card as a reminder, and well.. that officially decides it for me! (Do be prepared for another celebratory post at the end of the year though when Egmont publishes something to mark the anniversary!)
To celebrate this landmark in the life of Winnie, and in my life, I did what I love second best to the bear himself: bake.
For my birthday this year, one of my best friends got me a gorgeous and treasured Winnie the Pooh cook book with recipes from the books themselves. Published in the 70's, it's yellowing a bit and some pages have fallen out, but I adore it, and the recipes are adorable. Mostly featuring honey (of course), they come under headings like "Smackerels, tea and elevenses," and todays recipe is from that exact section.
I've been wanting to make scones for some time, so when I was flipping through the book last night and saw the recipe I knew I had to do it. The idea of honey as a sweeting agent in the scone sounded really interesting and a nice twist on the classic scone recipe.
It was a quick recipe too. No hassle, no fuss, no mess. Well I say no mess... I'm an absolute klutz in the kitchen and, without fail, cover myself and everywhere a metre around me in flour or sugar or a combination of all the ingredients I'm using. I'm frequently finding nuts or a sprinkling of something a week after the baking event itself...
I had this recipe done and dusted in 30 minutes, baked and all. There's around 10 to 15 minutes of prep, and 12-15 minutes of baking time, depending on the size of scone. The book states you need a 2" round cutter, but these make tiny scones that really are just smackerels, so I chose a slightly bigger size. I also diverted from the recipe (only slightly!) by doubling the amounts and the lessening the milk. Using a 2" cutter, you'd easily get the 9-12 suggested scones, but as I went a bit bigger, I needed more dough. For the milk, it suggests 4 tablespoons, then in the actual recipe it states to add enough to the egg and honey to make 1/4 pint of wet ingredients. I ended up using about 6 tablespoons of milk, which is quite a lot under 1/4 pint. My advice is to add the milk as you need it, not all at once at the start. That way it will never be to dry, but also won't get too wet and become an irreversible sludge!
My scones took the recommended 12 minutes of baking time and smelled gorgeous when I opened the door. Whilst there isn't actually much honey in them, they did smell a little sweeter and looked delicious as well.
I tucked in almost straight away. Firstly, I'm impatient, and secondly, they're far too tempting after a long day of work looking at scones but not being able to eat them. I cracked out the jam, slathered it on like you do, and took probably a bigger bite than necessary.
The texture was a little different from a normal scone; slightly gooey. I think the honey definitely plays a part there, and it's a nice change. While still warm, the scone almost melts in your mouth and the honey, which makes it a little chewy also, works nicely with the raisins to make it sweet. For something that took under half an hour to make, it tastes amazing. I'd definitely make them bigger next time to satisfy my oversized stomach and Winnie the Pooh's.
With a cup of tea, and good side of jam and cream, these scones would go down well at any afternoon tea or a date with friends. Just the title of Honey & Raisin scones sounds like a lot of effort was put in (when I mentioned them at work I got an "oooooooh" from at least four people!) so you'd easily impress!
I only hope Winnie the Pooh himself would love them too, but I'm sure just the word honey in the title would get his rumbly-tumbly going.
Has anything in your childhood ever inspired you to bake?
These look lovely - must have a go. I love Winnie the Pooh too :-) love bec xx
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