The past week and a half has been unexpected for me. Malaysia has gone under a lockdown as a result, I don’t actually have any work to do. While I expect things to get crazy busy once we are back up and running at work, I’m currently facing the classic problem of: what can I do at home?

Apart from trying to write more, read more, and drink more tea (I’m currently being tempted by online tea shops so I think I’ll end up with the same amount, or even more tea by the time I’m back at work), I’ve also been baking more! This week, I managed to make:

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

These are from The Book of Scones, which is one of the few books that I bought after borrowing it from the library. I managed to try my first savoury scone recipe. The original is a recipe for Bacon, Spring Onion, and Cheddar scones, but my family is not a huge fan of spring onions in bread and I didn’t want to push them too far for the first savoury scone.

I also did not manage to find a grater when making these, so I ended up pushing them through a garlic mince (thoroughly rinsed, of course). The cheese ended up looking like yellow mince meat, which was unappetising but thankfully did not matter because they were hidden in the dough.

Despite the unappetising-looking minced cheese, the scones were a success! I was pretty happy with the reception to this, although I did get one comment that the bacon was not strong enough – perhaps I should make the pieces bigger next time?

Banana Brownies

My second recipe and one that I tried twice over the past week. This is from the National Trust Book of Afternoon Tea and it is probably the most forgiving recipe that I tried. I made this at home, without any scales (didn’t measure the flour or sugar), and somehow managed to make brownies that were finished even faster than the scones. Apparently the addition of a banana to the brownie batter helped the chocolate-avoiding people approach the brownie.

Buoyed by the first success and wanting to give Ethel some food in exchange for all the food that she has given me, I tried making these again and… added too many bananas. The brownies had a soggy bottom, as Paul would say on the GBBO (I am also sad to have finished all the GBBO seasons available in the library). But I guess that’s all part and parcel of baking – something turn out great, some things go in to the ‘mishap’ pile.

Next week: currently undecided as to what I will make, although I’ve got vanilla jello and want to try making banana pudding. Unfortunately, I can’t find Nilla wafers in Singapore anymore, so I will be experimenting with different biscuits to see what works best.