The Scone Wars
When last I posted, I was on a quest for a socks knocking scone recipe. I narrowed it down to two choices:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/scones.html
with the addition of about a cup of chocolate chips
http://willowbirdbaking.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/secret-garden-recipe-buttermilk-cranberry-scones/
The recipes are very similar, just a different liquid (cream vs buttermilk) and slightly different proportions of butter and baking soda/powder.
This was my first from-scratch baking in the oven at my new place and it was much more of an adventure that I would have liked. It's a lower end of the line gas oven and it decided it wanted to burn the bottoms before the tops were cooked. The first batch had to be completely abandoned (I did save the tasty parts and plan to do some kind of bread pudding or trifle with them.
As you can see:
the next batch (the ones on the right) was still a bit off. A few did get burned but not nearly as bad. I finally figured out the combo that worked - lowered the oven temp 50 degrees, lifted the rack to one higher than center and used stacked jelly roll pans. The last batch (the one on the left) cooked perfectly.
Cranberry on the left, chocolate chip on the right.
Some people liked one kind better, others liked the other kind. The cream scones were definitely richer.
I will definitely be making both again. I think I'll do the cream scones with rum-soaked raisins for the holidays.
Things I learned:
Freezing and grating the butter was an excellent idea. Thanks so much for reminding me of that tip.
The cranberries in the second batch benefited greatly from being soaked in lemon juice prior to addition in the recipe. Oh and the amount called for in the original recipe was not enough for me. I added close to a cup.
It's reaaallly easy to overwork scone dough.
The dough works best when it's on the slightly dry side. Too wet and they turn out flat.
Shaping, cutting and transferring the scones became yet another use for my big metal scraper/blade thingy.
Making scones is fun and tasty.
Thanks for helping me make several people very happy!
http://www.joyofbaking.com/scones.html
with the addition of about a cup of chocolate chips
http://willowbirdbaking.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/secret-garden-recipe-buttermilk-cranberry-scones/
The recipes are very similar, just a different liquid (cream vs buttermilk) and slightly different proportions of butter and baking soda/powder.
This was my first from-scratch baking in the oven at my new place and it was much more of an adventure that I would have liked. It's a lower end of the line gas oven and it decided it wanted to burn the bottoms before the tops were cooked. The first batch had to be completely abandoned (I did save the tasty parts and plan to do some kind of bread pudding or trifle with them.
As you can see:
the next batch (the ones on the right) was still a bit off. A few did get burned but not nearly as bad. I finally figured out the combo that worked - lowered the oven temp 50 degrees, lifted the rack to one higher than center and used stacked jelly roll pans. The last batch (the one on the left) cooked perfectly.
Cranberry on the left, chocolate chip on the right.
Some people liked one kind better, others liked the other kind. The cream scones were definitely richer.
I will definitely be making both again. I think I'll do the cream scones with rum-soaked raisins for the holidays.
Things I learned:
Freezing and grating the butter was an excellent idea. Thanks so much for reminding me of that tip.
The cranberries in the second batch benefited greatly from being soaked in lemon juice prior to addition in the recipe. Oh and the amount called for in the original recipe was not enough for me. I added close to a cup.
It's reaaallly easy to overwork scone dough.
The dough works best when it's on the slightly dry side. Too wet and they turn out flat.
Shaping, cutting and transferring the scones became yet another use for my big metal scraper/blade thingy.
Making scones is fun and tasty.
Thanks for helping me make several people very happy!