Fionn Downhill

Food & Travel: Where every bite tells a story!

Category: Baking

Downton Abbey Tea Party

Now that we have covered the basics, here is how to do your own Downton Abbey Tea Party.  Dine like the Dowager with elegance and style. When I watched Downtown Abbey I had serious tea set envy. Let’s start with six people. Royal Dalton tea set Table supplies 6 cups and saucers 6 small teaspoons.  Place one spoon on each saucer. Milk and sugar bowl – I prefer whole-fat milk for tea. It is a much creamier taste six sandwich plates...

Great British Baking Show Signature Chocolate Cake

I was recently asked to bake a chocolate cake for our friends birthday. I got the idea to make the GBBS signature choclate cake. I used a vanilla sponge as I did not want to overlaod on the chocolate. Not a problem for me the more chocolate the better. However, not everybody likes the intense chocolate cake ( I do not know what is wrong with them!) I used butter cream frosting and even if I say so myself I think I nailed it . The cake was a...

Traditional English Scones

 Recipe Makes about 8 scones 40grams of spreadable butter (1.4 ozs) 8 Ozs self-rising flour (225g) 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar Pinch of salt 110 ml of milk (1/2 Cup) A little lemon juice Dash of vanilla 2 Ozs of raisins 1 tsp of baking powder Method Heat the oven to 425F Add the lemon juice and the vanilla to the milk.  This will curdle the milk slightly help the scones to rise and give a nice flavor to the scones Add the baking...

Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns are very popular in Britain at Easter. They are eaten at the end of lent on Good Friday. You can read the history of Hot Cross Buns here. They are widely available in the stores in England, but the homemade version is so much better. Do not be put off working with yeast if you are not used to it. This recipe is easy to do. Make sure your yeast is not past its sell by date. They are a delicious fruit bun and can be made all year...

Easy Delicious Lemon Cake

Before I came to the United States I had never heard of a "Box cake" It was 23 years ago so there may be such items in the UK and Ireland now. In this age of Corona-virus flour is almost impossible to find. I wanted to make a lemon cake for desert so I decided to branch out and bought a "box cake" I used a mix from Kroger. We are so lucky in Arizona we have lots of citrus trees and my lemon tree in the back yard had a bumper crop this year....