The Daring Bakers’ Challenge, 2012 January: Scones

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

As suggested, I tried a few variations of the basic scone recipe provided here. I used frozen, grated butter in one batch.  I triple sifted flour.  I added chocolate chips, just for fun.

My favorite batch, however, came from the Irish currant scones recipe on the website Little Shamrocks. I used whole wheat flour (called wholemeal flour in Ireland) and exchanged dried cranberries for currants.  With one taste I was transported back to Ireland and breakfasts with a basket of warm scones (or sconces, as my aunt called them) and my very own little silver pot of tea. I could almost smell the peat fire and feel the comfort of lounging in a pub on a chilly, drizzly (or soft as the Irish say) day.  

Ahhh.

Irish Cranberry Scones (adapted from Little Shamrocks)

1 ½ c whole wheat flour

½ c white flour

½ t salt

1 T sugar

3 ½ t baking soda

¼ c dried cranberries

1 egg

4 T melted butter

2/3 c cold milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix together all dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat together egg, melted butter, and milk.  Add to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. 

On a floured surface, knead the dough about 10 times until smooth.

Pat the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle and cut circles with a 2-inch round cutter.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush the tops with a little milk and then sprinkle with sugar.  Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve warm.

Makes 12 scones.

Autumn Brittle

So, I kept seeing this picture of a beautiful, overflowing plate of autumn brittle on Pinterest. All those fall colors and tastes were working together to create a shiny, tempting piece of candy. But it was a million degrees outside and ridiculously humid and I just wasn’t feeling the boiled sugar vibe.

Then my copy of Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Sugar Baby arrived this week and the weather cooled down and all of a sudden I was ready to cook something sweet.  I’ll definitely be pouring over and testing recipes from Sugar Baby this fall and winter (and remembering her advice not to poke hot caramel – thank you, Gesine), but first, the autumn brittle.

Cooking sugar is that interesting combination of relaxing yet somewhat scary and exciting.

Making brittle isn’t something you can do in a hurry. The sugar needs to reach the hard crack stage - 300°F.  So for an hour or more, you stir a little, check the thermometer, wait a little bit, and catch up on some daydreaming before you stir again and recheck the thermometer. . . you get the idea. Peaceful.

As the mixture keeps getting hotter and hotter, though, all the warnings I read in cookbooks and heard on Food Network about sugar burns ran through my mind. There’s also the fact that I’m less than graceful. Kinda worrisome.

Nevertheless, I carefully persevered and ended up with this (and not one single scalding). Thrilling.

 

I’m going to direct you right to the Adventures in Cooking site.  The photos are gorgeous and the recipe is very easy to follow. For my version of the brittle, I used pecans instead of cashews (pecans just seemed more fall-like) and added a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the sugar mixture (‘cause you can’t go wrong with pumpkin pie spice).

Enjoy.