Now I have so much free time on my hands, I've found myself trying to keep busy and picking up old hobbies. Both my nana's taught me to bake when I was little and I watched my stepdad cook as I grew up, always wanting to be like them. I've always been a bit of a 'tryer' when it comes to baking, I've always managed to produce the goods but they've always been a bit off. I enjoy NOTHING more than a good old cream tea and I really wanted to try and make some homemade scones which I've never attempted before. I sifted through a few recipes online and found this Mary Berry recipe. I followed it to the letter the first time round and although the scones were edible, something wasn't quite right. So I adapted the recipe a little myself, trying out a few things and managed to come up with a really good outcome just 2nd time around. This time, I thought I would document it for you (last time they were eaten far too quickly by my family before I could get some decent shots of them) so here is my adapted Fruit Scone recipe. 

Recipe adapted from Mary Berry's 'Fruit Scone's' Recipe 

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/food/recipes/baking/scones/mary-berry-fruit-scones

You're going to need;

75g of Unsalted, Chilled Butter (cut into cubes)

350g of Self Raising Flour (extra needed for dusting)

2 tsp's of Baking Powder

40g Caster Sugar

100-150g Sultana's 

100-150ml of Milk (I use semi skimmed)

2 Large Eggs

Preheat oven to 200C for Fan Assisted ovens, 220C for conventional ovens. 

1. You are going to cube the butter and add to a large mixing bowl. Then add the Self Raising flour. What you are going to do is mix the butter into the flour with your hands/ between your fingers (Top Tip; Don't use your palms as you want to keep the ingredients as cold as possible) until you get the consistency of breadcrumbs. 

2. Next, we are going to add in the baking powder, sugar and sultana's. I say between 100/150g because it depends on how 'fruity' you want your scones. This time round I used 150g which I thought was a perfect amount. 

3. Now we are going to add the wet ingredients to the mixture. You will want to beat the eggs separately before adding to the mixture and keep around 2tsp's aside for the baking. Add the milk (start with 100ml and we can add the other 50ml if needed later)

4. Now that all the ingredients are together in the bowl, we are going to mix. Mary recommends using a rounded edge knife but I find it's a little easier with a metal tablespoon. You want to combine the mixture together softly, not being too heavy handed as this will help keep the scones fluffy in texture. You need the dough to be soft and not too sticky. If you are finding the mixture a bit dry or difficult to mix, add the extra milk bit by bit until you get a nice consistency. 

5. Once mixed and the mixture is slightly sticky and soft, we are going to flour our work surface and tip the mixture out. You want to slightly knead the mixture but again, not being too heavily handed. Mary recommends to roll the mixture out but I like to just pat it down to a thickness of about 1.75cm-2cm. 

6. I don't have any cutters so I personally use a glass to cut the scones to size. You don't want them the width of a pint glass - ideally the width of a wine glass is a nice size. Make sure to flour your cutter or glass slightly before cutting as this will help to remove the mixture easily. 

7. You want to slightly grease your cooking tin before adding the pre cut scones to it. Cut the mixture into as many circles as you can - I got around 11 from my mixture this time, last time 10. It will depend on how thick you made your mixture. 

8. Slightly pat down the scones and then with the egg we put aside earlier, you want to top/ brush the scones with this. This will help give a golden look once cooked. 

9. Now, put them into the preheated oven for around 10 minutes. Ideally keep an eye on them as I find mine were very crisp when I previously did 10 minutes. This time mine only needed 8. Once out of the oven, if you pat the bottom of the scones and they sound hollow, they're perfect. 

10. Let them chill slightly and serve with Clotted Cream and Jam. Alternatively, enjoy alone. These are so soft and sweet you can actually eat them plain and still slightly warm. 

Enjoy! Let me know in the comments if you want to see more recipe's featured on the blog.

*DISCLAIMER - I am the author of all content featured/ any content published on www.lovefromlucky.com. Content on this blog does not reflect the views or opinions of any other person, company or website. I am sent products or services from PR companies or brands to feature on the website in return for my review purposes. I am not obligated to review any product I am sent in a positive way and all views shared are 100% my own. PR samples will be disclosed and marked with * and any products not listed in this way have been purchased by myself or gifted to me from friends and family.

I'd been feeling a bit pants lately due to an anxiety attack and some general life dramas and just needed to relax and have some me time. Conveniently the lovely folks at Ocean Loans sent across an email asking if I wanted to indulge in a stress free 'relaxing' day courtesy of them and of course I hoped on that chance, I mean who wouldn't?! Ocean's ethos is all about making people's lives easier and to help take the stress out of everyday life. We headed down to Bournemouth for the weekend to visit Ash's Brother Lloyd and his Brothers Fiancée Rosie and thought it was the best time to really indulge in some stress free relaxation and arranged a few treats for us all.  If you haven't already seen my Photo Diary - Bank Holiday in Bournemouth then make sure to head over to that post.