April 17, 2007 - 1:46pm
baking Boot Camp Book
I got this book thinking I'd pick up some tricks and looked to what they were doing with scones.
The description they have uses butter (almost a pound) and 2 and something ounces of egg.
But when you read the recipe it references in the book.... no eggs, no butter....
I'm trying the scones as the recipe is printed in the store tomorrow.
We'll see what happens.
Gdubya
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would you mind posting the recipe?
3 3/4 Cups Bread Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 t salt
1 C dried unsweetened cherries
1/2 C bittersweet chocolate
2 C heavy cream, cold
2 T milk
1 C confectioner's sugar
1. Line a round cake pan with a circle of parchment paper, and cut a second circle the same size.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together into a mixing bowl. Add the dried cherries and chocolate and toss them with the dry ingredients until evenly distributed. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and stir by hand just until the batter is evenly moistened.
3. Place the dough in the lined cake pan and press into an even layer. Cover the dough with the second parchment paper circle. Freeze the dough until very firm, at least 12 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degreesF. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it lightly with cooking spray or lining with parchment paper. Thaw the dough for 5 minutes a room temperature, then turn it out of the cake pan onto a cutting board. Cut the dough into 10 equal wedges and place the individual wedges on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake the scones until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool the scones on the pans for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks. Mix the milk and confectioners sugar together to make a glaze and spoon over the scones while they are still warm. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.
Not bad following the recipe. A little flat, so they may need a bit more baking powder.
We're adding eggs tomorrow to make them a bit richer.
We'll see about adding butter after that.
Gdubya
the amount of levening may not be your problem, the milk and cream can throw off the pH balance, making the baking powder not work.... or not work as well. baking powder is an exellent levener, but only works if the acidity is in balance with the basic ingredients. if not, then baking powder will not do its job. your dairy ingredients are basic, so you need to increase the acidity in your recipe. you can do this a number of ways, but i would reccomend the easiest would be to add some baking soda. this is the reason why most recipes require both baking soda and baking powder. also, the butter (creamed with sugar) will add air and lighten your scones a bit. your eggs, should also help to fluff it up as well. (i dont have a long science talk for these last couple things, sorry). i dont mean to bore you all with science and chemistry mumbo jumbo... but i think it is adequate... and hey, you learn something new everyday, right?
i might be backwards on some of my facts, i would reccomend buy a book about the science and chemistry of baking if you plan on doing things like creating your own recipes and such. i believe that if you know how things work, then you can REALLY start to begin to customize and create your recipes. either that or become really good at chemistry... id reccomend... no more than a teaspoon??? im not too sure how much to use, it may be something you need to experiment with, but be careful to not too much or it can affect you overall flavor. im not a chemist, so i cant really tell you how much you would need. but i would reccomend adding your eggs and butter and see how it turns out, if it is still flat, then start adding a bit of baking soda.
this show, good eats, which explains what i have already said. i think, he can do it better. its worth checking out. be sure to also watch the second half as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3QuQSdjMVE&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcz4JQUwY9Q&mode=related&search=
i hope this helps a bit, and if my info is a little off, please tell me, and let us know how they turn out. good luck.
Thanks for the post and the tip on baking soda. The vids on biscuits are very interesting too, both in terms of scones but in terms of wanting to do biscuits as well.
The butter we added has added flavor, and we upped the baking powder a bit.
When we prep tomorrow (for Thursday's bake) we'll add some baking soda.
We're still not flaky yet, but the scones are very tasty. I had one this morning to test and it was so good I had another!!
Gdubya