Double Chocolate and Ginger Scones

Sunday morning, while the rest of London was hungover and asleep, I baked scones.  I first woke up at 6:20, and through my skylight it was just a lifeless gray so I hid back under the covers, shut my eyes and waited for the time to pass and the sun to come out.  Twenty minutes later, I woke up to the rain splattering against the window.  Mid-March and it's still winter here in the UK but despite the depressing climate, I love this place.  And as I stared out my skylight and thought about all the wonderful British things, I decided to get up and make some scones.

 The first time I attempted to make chocolate scones was in my first year of university when I had just started learning how to use the stove and the oven.  It was a disaster in the sense that they turned out to be chocolate cookies, but they tasted alright.  I think.  Fortunately the ones I made this morning I can actually call scones. 

Yes it's still f*cking miserable outside, but there's something rather comforting about eating warm scones with butter and jam on the couch, all cozy under a a big duvet.  A hot cup of tea, a few candles, some nice music -- there's definitely something more enjoyable about staying indoors when the weather outside is so appalling.

Recipe adapted from Mary Berry
makes about 5 medium-sized scones
Ingredients
230g self-raising flour
40g cocoa powder
1 rounded tsp baking powder
40g cold butter, cubed
35g caster sugar
30g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
30g crystallized ginger, roughly chopped
1 large egg
100ml milk

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder together.  Rub in the butter with your hands until the mixture resemble breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar.

Whisk the egg and the milk together and slowly drizzle this into the mixture.  Stir just to incorporate.  Stir in the ginger and chocolate.

Bring the dough together on a lightly floured work surface, do not overwork.  Pat the dough out to about 2cm thick, and using a floured ring cutter, stamp out the scones.  Make sure you don't twist it.  Gather the trimmings together, pat down to again 2cm thick and stamp out more scones. 

Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or until well-risen.  Transfer to rack and cool.