Raspberry ricotta scones

I'm back! After what seemed like weeks of moving, unpacking, cleaning, countless trips to Ikea (why is it that whenever we're moving we always need some more Ikea stuff?) I finally have everything sorted and the Internet connected. Yay!

I first tried these raspberry ricotta scones when I was visiting our friends in Boston. Hi Kaitlyn! We had them for breakfast one day and they were so delicious I knew I'd make them again. If you never made scones before fear not - extremely easy to make they can be whipped up in less than an hour and are a perfect breakfast snack.

I used a slightly adapted recipe from Smitten Kitchen: I changed the flour proportions and added single cream as I didn't have heavy cream in the house. 

To make 12 scones you'll need:

1/2 cup (about 60g) wholegrain or wholewheat flour (I used wholegrain)
1 1/2 cups (180 g) plain white flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup (about 150g) fresh raspberries
3/4 cup (190g) ricotta cheese
1/3 cup (80ml) single cream

Start by preheating the oven to 220 C/ 200 C fan.

Mix both flours, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl and add cubed butter.


Rub the butter into the flour mix with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (you can also use a pastry cutter for this; I would have but I'm banned from buying any more kitchen gadgets. Sigh.)
Add raspberries and mix everything together. At this point the mixture will be quite wet and sticky.

Add cream and ricotta and use a spatula to fold everything together.

Transfer the mix to a well floured kitchen counter and flatten into a rectangle.

Cut 12 squares with a knife and transfer the scones onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Bake for 15 minutes until the scones are golden on the edges. Cool on a wire rack and eat with a bit of butter or honey. Truly scrummy.

Healthy breakfast smoothie

Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast - well, not really, Jules, not really.
I guess it's safe to say that not all movie wisdom is to be applied in real life (see also 'Hey, let's see what's in this creepy cave no one has ever been to!' etc. etc.)

As someone who thinks about food all day long I find it nearly impossible to understand how anyone can NOT have breakfast. But I know one argument that's always used as an excuse: I don't have time.

Well, smoothie to the rescue! This particular breakfast smoothie is basically your meal in a glass. 

5 ingredients and about 5 minutes to make. And delicious. And healthy. Anything with oats in it is healthy. Even muffins, I suppose.

You'll need a smoothie maker, food processor or a hand held blender (personally, I find handheld blenders the best as the cleanup is super easy).

To make a smoothie for one you'll need: 

2 bananas
2 tbsp oats
3/4 cup milk/almond milk/soya milk (I used unsweetened soya milk)
a handful of mixed berries (I used frozen)
a small handful of fresh blueberries

Now it gets tough and difficult. Not.
Pop all the ingredients (apart from blueberries) into a tall jug (I use a measuring jug).

Blend and pour into a tall glass. Scatter blueberries on top. Slurp.

Done. Breakfast in 5 minutes, done and dusted. Now off you go and spend the time you saved making breakfast standing in front of your wardrobe wondering what to wear. Or is it just me?