No one bakes anymore. This is sad, but this is also good, because people go nuts if you take the time to bake. "You MADE scones!?" Yes, I made scones. It's not difficult at all.
People think it's the recipe. It's not the recipe, it's how you mix the ingredients.
The butter should be kept cold. And it must be "cut" into the flour, not stirred, not kneaded. The cutting and the resulting mealy texture of the flour/butter mix make for deliciously light quickbreads, as opposed to rocks in bread form.
The cutting is greatly faciliated by a device known as a pastry blender. It is currently impossible to purchase a pastry blender in a grocery store. I don't know why, you can buy biscuit cutters and you need one to get to the other. But you can make do (as I do) with a pair of knives or a large-tined fork.
Buttermilk is a common ingredient in scones. Rather than buying buttermilk and having an exotic item taking up room in my fridge, I prefer to sour ordinary milk with lemon juice or vinegar. Digs Magazine has instructions here.
I've never made their scone recipe. But I've made the following:
These are amazing. Delicious cranberry taste, perfectly tempered with citrus.
Addictive and a great accompaniment to minestrone soup.
One of the things I found in my scone research is that the dough freezes well and the scones themselves freeze well, which suddenly explains why you always see them for sale. It's a food product made for a commerical kitchen. But really, give it a whirl. Do some baking and blow peoples' minds.
<< Home