Phew, I’ve been so busy the last few days! I’ve been meaning to write this for so long but things have always run away from me. So what I have been up to you may wonder? Well, the bulk of my time has been spent on my freelance web work (shameless plug – if you happen to know anyone looking for some assistance, feel free to give them my details!). Naturally I’ve been cooking, baking and eating, like these cheese and vegemite scones, although I’ll get to those in just a moment, and in amongst all that there’s the school-work and the diapers and the trips into town and the trips back again. What I need is an extra 8 hours in the day. Who do I have to write to in order to start such a campaign to make the days longer do you think?
In other news my sister got married on Monday – congratulations sis! Sadly I was unable to attend the wedding. Half-way across the world, it would have meant a sizeable chunk of time out of my studies and I have an important exam coming up soon, not to mention the financial expense of getting there so it’s a great shame we couldn’t go, but from what my mother tells me it was a lovely ceremony so I hope I’ll be able to see some photos soon.
Moving on to food…, let me start off by showing you a photo (sorry, it’s a cellphone snap).
Look at it.
No… I mean really, look at it.
It’s a thing of beauty; it’s a thing of such outstanding deliciousness; it’s – the best possible breakfast, ever. It is, of course, a piece of toast with butter and vegemite. Australians will know this fantastic stuff. Brits will probably know the slightly different version called Marmite. To some people, this is their idea of breakfast hell. Can you believe that some people detest this stuff? Personally I love it – I crave it, and I was all out of Marmite with no chance of getting more up here in Sweden.
There was one kind soul who heard my cry for help in the darkness. Charlie, from Hotly Spiced – you rock, seriously! This lovely person sent me over three tubes of Vegemite heaven and I’ve been enjoying them ever since.
Cheese and Vegemite Scones
I figured it would be nice to bake something with a bit of Vegemite in (but not too much! I have to conserve it for my morning toast) so I decided to make some cheese and vegemite scones (or biscuits as some people call them). Would you believe it – I was checking out my feed reader last night to catch up on some blogs I follow and I happened across this recipe by Shashi from RunninSriLankan. I can go months without seeing anyone using Marmite or Vegemite in a recipe and then suddenly someone posts a scone recipe just days before mine. What are the chances?
If you’re a Marmite and Vegemite hater then perhaps these won’t be for you – although you’ll probably find them ok. The flavour doesn’t come across strongly at all and really gives a great salty, malty flavour to the scones. Hope you like ’em!
Cheese and Vegemite Scones
Ingredients
- 230 g Plain Flour + extra for dusting
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 60 g Butter
- 100 g strong Cheddar grated
- 100 ml Water
- 2 tbsps Vegemite or Marmite
- 60 ml Milk
Instructions
- Start off by preheating your oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Combine the Flour and Baking Powder in a bowl and then transfer to a food processor. Add in the butter and blitz until the butter has been broken down and the mixture resembles bread-crumbs.
- Transfer back to the mixing bowl and then stir in the grated cheese. Heat the water a little and stir the vegemite into the warm water until dissolved. Add the milk to the water and then pour into the bowl with the flour, butter, and cheese.
- Mix well to form a dough and then turn out onto a floured surface and roll out to a thickness of about 2cm. Cut into small rounds and arrange on a lightly greased baking tray.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before enjoying.
These wouldn’t be for me as I’m not a ‘little Vegemite’ but my husband has been one since he was a child. He’d think these were brilliant.
So sorry to hear you couldn’t make it to your sister’s wedding. That’s tough.
Hi Maureen – I would have thought that that admission is sufficient for the authorities to remove your Australian passport. It’s delicious and you should feel bad for not loving it! Seriously though… it definitely has a unique flavour… I can understand why some may not enjoy it. It goes great with cucumber and butter in a sandwich by the way…! 😀
Haha – what are the chances indeed – well, all I can say is us great minded people, we think alike 😉
Your scones sound pretty fab!
Congrats to your sis! And I had no clue you ran a site optimization/migration/allthingstechygeeky website – your shameless plug has me saluting you, my friend! Now, about that campaign to extend days…
Thanks Shashi – I think I’ll have more chances of campaigning the local stores here to start stocking Marmite or Vegemite than getting someone to make the days longer… perhaps I should start there?!
Congratulations to your sister on her wedding. It’s difficult establishing yourself in a new country, language lessons, and trying to start up a business so I’m sure she understands your not being able to attend.
With the busy schedule of your new life, I’m surprised that you post as often as you do, these days. There have been some very unique dishes (ahem, beet root muffins) this year in your posts. 🙂
I’ve never tasted this Marmite and, like the kimchi that Sissi posted today, am unlikely to do so in the near future. However, I liked your innovation in including it as a subtle, or maybe NOT so subtle, flavour surprise in scones. I’m curious how you would describe the taste of Marmite/Vegemite.
Well, I haven’t posted now since this post… will try and change that by Saturday but still… so busy! I cheated a little… I made dinner this evening and made a number of unique dishes so I plonked each dish in front of the same background, photographed it, and then did the next one, and the next one. An easy three posts there, even if the photography isn’t that imaginative, but I’m not too bothered… after all, I blog for myself, not for anyone else. The fact that people like you actually have a desire to come by and read my ramblings is simply a nice benefit :).
You’ve gotta try kimchi… real, good kimchi. You might hate it on the first try… I did, but then I had it again and now I’m hooked. It’s really addictive!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying your vegemite not only on toast but also in scones! Does Wee William like vegemite? You sound incredibly busy and I’m so sorry to hear you were unable to attend your sister’s wedding. There are some wonderful benefits of living in a time where we are ‘a global village’ but sometimes I wonder about the benefits of growing up in a time where you were born and raised in a village and no one moved away from it – in those times you’d never miss a family wedding! Good luck with your exams xx
Does Willy like Vegemite… well: judge for yourself here. I think it’s safe to say we have another Vegemite lover in the family! 😀
All that time growing up in London and I don’t once try Marmite. Of course now, to buy that stuff here I have to take out a loan. So I guess, I’ll go a bit longer without trying it 🙂
It is funny how some posts, out of the blue are totally identical to what you’re about to post.
Congrats to your sister! It’s a pity you couldn’t make it. I felt bummed around Christmas because I couldn’t make it to my nephews wedding.
Vegemite scones, interesting take! They look really good and I’m loving the scone cheese sandwich.
So, as far as my brother goes, I don’t know how I’m going to send you a clip of his voice! Unless you want to check out his work’s FB page where he does a clip for some advertising. Let me know 🙂
Hi Nazneen – could totally check out his work’s FB page! Send me over a link 🙂
I must be behind the curve on marmite and vegemite because even though I think I may have heard of them, I certainly haven’t tried them. What is vegemite? What does it taste like? Is it salty, sweet, umami? Just curious. Even though I have no idea what they taste like, these scones sure do look good! Could definitely eat a couple of them for breakfast. (What a nice thing that Charlie did!)
Like vegetable scraps boiled down into a salty/sour syrup which is then left to ferment in an old sock. No prize for guessing where I stand in the love/hate debate on marmite/vegemite… 😉
Don’t listen to my wife… she obviously has no idea what she’s talking about… or defective taste buds… or both. It’s salty. Very, very salty, but delicious. Basically it smells a bit like bread (because of the yeast) but also stronger because it’s made from brewer’s yeast.
Charles, I was just thinking about Marmite, and here is this! I’ve never actually tried Marmite or Vegemite, but I’ve always intended to. Must put it on my list for my next trip to my local British imports shop.
Definitely! You’ll love it! Or hate it… one of the two, that much I can guarantee 🙂
I think these sound lovely! I like Marmite (maybe not ‘love it’) I am quite content with Marmite on toast but I am not an addict – like my daughter is! But the idea of it in a scone with some cheese really appeals to me. But it costs a fortune here in France as well you must know….so I am please you have been thrifty with the quantities 🙂
Mm, I used to see it in Auchan for about €5 for a tiny jar. I used to miss baked beans too until I realised that if you get a can of haricots blanc, pour them in a pan and squirt in a liberal dollop of ketchup… warm it through… you get the exact same thing.
Marmite and vegemite are things of wonder (yes, I love them!) and these gorgeous scones remind me of my granny’s baking. When I first came to Spain you couldn’t buy Marmite and all my visitors used to bring it out for me – fortunately we can get it now 🙂
Lucky you – I guess it will still be a while before it reaches the northern wastes here 😀
Love seeing the vegemite in these scones! I use yeast routinely in dry/flake form on popcorn (often called nutritional yeast) which has a lovely natural cheese flavour. I haven’t played around as much with the brewers yeast base in paste form but this is great incentive to (I’m also curious to try it just on toast as you suggest). The cheddar sounds amazing and I see you’ve added some Swiss too 🙂 (one of my faves!!). Sounds like life has been very busy for you Charles but hopefully fun too. How unfortunate that you weren’t able to be with your sister on her wedding day — it’s tough living far apart isn’t it — congratulations to her!
Yes! Love that stuff… I think I used it in a recipe here before… I can’t remember now (ah, just searched… indeed I did).
March was crazy busy… I seemed to suddenly get so many freelance jobs at once. Of course I’ll probably get no work at all for April… haha, such is life.
LOL at the pimp. You are completely entitled to it. Love the new look of the blog (or is it not new anymore? I have been missing from the blog scene from ages I’ve tons of catchign up to do)
I have a weakness for scones. With jam and clotted cream and tea, maybe in a proper British garden :p Not sure about vegemite, but hey. If it’s in a scone you could possibly convince me to eat it.
In other news, good to be back blogging 🙂
Nah, it was new – just a week or so old when you stopped by. Clotted cream and jam and scones… hell yeah. That’s so British and so good. Especially when the cream has a thick yellow crust on top… nom!
What an interesting recipe Charles, although I must admit I’m from the non-lovers side, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate this creative recipe. How nice that Charlie sent you tubes of your favourite marmite, that’s very generous. The blogging community is such a beautiful place.
Congratulations to your sister, it’s too bad you weren’t able to go to her wedding but I’m sure she understands.
Thanks Eva – I saw some of my father’s pictures… would have loved to have been there. Oh well… You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding. Like… never?! What’s that about? 🙁
I totally understand how it’s like to get caught up with so much stuffs and work, and yet you are trying so hard to squeeze in the time to just blog/write or spend some time with yourself but you’re just so dead tired at the end of the day that you doze off once you are done! I would want more time too, lol, but we all know what comes back, it’s all about our time management, hitting us right there in the face, and we go blah, blah, blah, and ya, ya, ya, you’re right, we just need to manage our time 😛
Back to your scones, as always, why is it that everything you make turns out so heavenly? Even when you are rushing for time, you still manage to make everything looks so gorgeous that now you’re sending me on a search for scones! Come to think of it, perhaps I should plan for an English afternoon tea soon, to enjoy some of this and time to relax 😉
Hi Christy – everyone needs an occasional English-style afternoon tea to relax. Don’t forget the jam and cream!
Hi there Charles…I am delighted to hear things are going well with school, work is good and your spending some quality time with your little man. I am certain I would love these scones but just minus the Vegemite. I tried that once and now I am no longer curious… LOL Lets just put it this way if I was coming over for a visit you would not need to stock up on the Vegemite. Wishing you a super day! Study Hard! BAM
LOL! But then it would just be a plain old cheese scone. Well… if you don’t have any vegemite then I won’t complain. More for me!
Now I’m curious and how come I haven’t had a chance to try Vegemite? I wonder if I can find this, probably in high end (and international) grocery stores… must check it out! I like trying new things people are obsessed with. 😀 Your scones look delicious! I still need to try this flavor to imagine how these scones are like… Will look for it! Congratulations on your sister’s wedding!
Hi Nami! I guess you might hate it… or love it… hard to say. Definitely try it on toast with butter. Not too much though… you just need to scrape some on thinly – not like jam, lol!