Reader Karen Thorne recently featured in The Guardian newspaper and is a keen home cook.

She owns Hopton House B’n'B, an award-winning establishment at Hopton Heath, near Ludlow, that won a Visit Britain Five Star Gold Award.

Visitors to the building, a converted granary, are regularly treated to cups of tea and homemade fruitcake, among other things.

Karen loves to bake and says these ginger scones are simple.

She says: “These ginger breakfast scones are quite different to a traditional English teatime scone. They are a cross between a scone and shortbread with a lovely crumby texture.

“They are perfect with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in the morning and are best straight from the oven.

“You can make them several days in advance and keep them in the fridge, or even the freezer, just getting them out to bake when you need them.”

INGREDIENTS

• Two-and-a-quarter cups of plain flour
• A third of a cup of sugar
• One tablespoon baking powder
• Two teaspoons ground ginger
• 170g cold butter
• Three quarters of a cup of double cream
• Three tablespoons chopped crystallised stem ginger

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (190 degrees for fan ovens).
• Put all dry ingredients into a food processor and whizz until well mixed.
• Cut butter into small cubes and add to the processor and pulse until mixture resembles bread crumbs
• Add the double cream and pulse until you have a dough but don’t over process
• Put onto a floured surface and press out to about 2 cm thick.
• Sprinkle the chopped ginger over the top, then fold in half.
• Repeat this folding for about 5 times until the dough is smooth.
• Roll out to about 2cm thick then cut out circles with a pastry cutter or cut into triangles.
• Put on a lined baking tray, brush with more cream and cook for about 10-15 minutes until the scones are golden.

Have you got a recipe for us? Email arichardson@shropshirestar.co.uk