Hatty’s Reading Corner

15^th August 2025

Welcome bakers,

I hope you are all enjoying the summer sunshine?

Today I have a super sweet treat for you. Before we get to that though, I want to show you some of the amazing things that my amazing friend Ria has made. She sells the things she makes on Facebook Marketplace so go her out. I even have the pleasure of doing small diamond art pieces for her to sell. Our name is Ria and Hatty’s Wonders on Wheels.

 The Clay Witch is £4.

The Bright Bird is £5

Clay Witch

This is perfect gift for Halloween, gorgeously spooky.

Diamond Dragonfly – something I made for Ria.

A wonderful wind chime, it comes with beautiful beads that help it to shine in the sun. A stunning gift for lovers of bright colours, it’s even the same on both sides. A great piece of art for a window or door. More like this coming soon.

Bright Parrot

A beautiful red and green bird made from clay. This is a great feature for someone’s mantelpiece.

From astounding art to a sweet recipe.

Recipe Recommender

Thank you gorgeous Bethan for helping me to find and make these Devonshire Splits. I also want to tell you, you are amazing. I am very proud of you. I will always bake with you. We always make something yummy.

This recipe comes from our love of The Great British Bake Off and Gill who made them in the last series. I don’t know if she followed the King of Bread Paul Hollywood’s recipe but we used his.

I hope if he judged our Devonshire Splits we might get a handshake.

The recipe comes from The Great British Bake Off: Love to Bake. It’s a good one I promise.

To get you in the mood do you fancy watching The Great British Bake Off titles? Okay, here we go!

Song for this bake: Jamming – Bob Marley & the Whalers

Ready.

Set.

Bake!

Paul’s baking instructions

Makes 12

Difficulty Hands on for 30 mins plus rising time.

Bake: 15 mins

Bakers glossary

G = Grams

Mi = Millitres

Tsp = Teaspoon

Tbsp = Tablespoon

Sachet = packet

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH

500g strong white bread flour

40g unsalted butter, softened

40g caster sugar

2 x 7g sachets fast action dried yeast

½ tsp salt

325ml whole milk, plus extra for glazing

1-2 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting

FOR THE FILLING

400ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 tbsp homemade or good-quality raspberry or strawberry jam

Raspberry

Strawberry

Hatty’s flavor note: We brought our jam and went for strawberry. My advice though would be to cut these into four once they have been filled. This will make them easier to hold. It also means you will get a fair amount of cream and jam. When we made these we did as Mister Hollywood says, which meant if you pulled the Devonshire Splits apart, one side held all the yummy stuff and the other side was a bit dry. No doubt about it these are messy but delicious.

I feel these are like an even more up market scone. I wonder you say it in your house?

YOU WILL NEED

2. baking sheets, greased, then lined with baking paper

large piping bag fitted with a closed star nozzle

Paul’s Words of Wisdom

Who wouldn’t welcome fluffy sweet buns, filled with cream and jam as an afternoon tea treat with a friend or family member? They make a lovely all-in-one alternative to a Devonshire scone.

This recipe can be found in the Randon Acts of Kindness section of the cookbook.

Step 1.

Tip the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the butter, sugar yeast and salt and mix to combine.

Step 2.

Gently warm the milk either in a microwave or small pan over a low heat. Add to the bowl with the flour mixture and mix for 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

 Step 3.

Turn out the dough onto the work surface and shape it into a neat ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Step 4.

Turn out the dough onto the work surface again, and knead for 30 seconds to knock out any large air pockets.

Step 5.

Weigh the dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a neat ball with the seam on the underside and arrange on the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between each one to allow for spreading during proving and baking. Cover loosely and prove for about 45 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

Step 6.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190oC/170oC fan/Gas 5.

Step 7.

Lightly brush the top of each bun with milk. Bake for about 15 minutes, or untl well risen and golden brown and the buns sound hollow when tapped on the underside. Transfer to a wire race to cool to room temperature.

Step 8.

Whip the cream and vanilla to soft peaks, then spoon into the piping bag.

Step 9.

Using a serrated knife, cut a deep slit into the top of each bun. Spread the jam on one side of the split and pipe a generous swirl of whipped cream alongside. Dust with icing sugar to finish.

I don’t actually have a picture of how our Devonshire Splits turned out because we ate too quickly. These are a lovely thing to share with others. However, you have to eat them quickly because the dough can go quite hard.

Here is a picture of some Devonshire Splits.

Thank you letting me share that awesome bake with you. I can’t wait for Bake Off to come back soon.

Next time I see you, we will take a short trip back to the world of Outlander, this time through the eyes of Lord John. It will only be a short chat I promise.

Don’t forget to check out Ria’s wonderful art on Facebook Marketplace too.

See you soon!

Love,

Hatts

Xxx