Boxty on the griddle
Boxty in the pan
If you can´t make boxty
you´ll never get a man
This traditional Irish rhyme talks about boxty, which is basically a potato cake eaten mostly in the north of Ireland. The boxty recipe is in the The Farmette Cookbook I bought a few months ago which was written by Imen McDonell. And I cannot be more happy with my purchase as this book is a great combination between Irish classic recipes and the story of the author behind each one. Ten years have passed now since I was living in Ireland and this cookery book really makes me want to return to the country immediately.
There are so many interesting and good recipes which bring to my mind the delicious dishes I tried there. It was in 2007 when I moved to Cork, in the south of the island, and while I was working there, I used to go on weekend getaways. In my opinion there is no better way to discover the cuisine of a country than traveling to its villages and towns. Through my travelings I not only discovered the boxty, but other dishes as the seafood chowder, the classic shepherd pie, the yummy colcannon or the one and only Irish stew.
But if there is something I enjoyed in my daily life there, were the scones. Although these had its start as a Scottish quick bread, nowadays it is common to have them for breakfast or with the afternoon and high teas. So when this cookery book reached my hands, the scones recipe was one of the first ones I baked. These came out so well that I have to share it with you. I just changed the type of flour as I only buy stone-ground instead of the regular one. But it will turn out well too with all-purpose flour as suggested in the book. I also decided to bake to a lower heat and for some minutes more.
INGREDIENTS for 8-9 scones
240 ml heavy cream (1 cup)
200 gr stone-ground flour (1 ½ cups)
50 gr superfine sugar (¼ cup)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt
PREPARATION
Start preheating the oven to 180ºC (356ºF) and place your baking tray inside. The writer explains that preheating is essential for having high-rising scones, and I cannot agree more with this tip. Meanwhile, in a bowl mix the salt, the already sifted flour and the baking powder. Now, add the sugar and 180 ml of the heavy cream (¾ C) and combine well all the ingredients until you get big crumbs.
Then, drop the dough in a flat surface and knead 4 or 5 times with your hands. If it is too dry add the remaining cream. Continue working with a rolling pin and later cut it with a cookie cutter (or a scone cutter if you have one) and place the scones on a baking paper on the preheated tray.
Bake for 10 minutes or until they rise enough and are lightly brown.
Buon appetito!
Photography & Stylism: Carlota Fariña
Instagram: #carlotafariñafoodgram
