Daring Bakers January, 2012 Challenge, Back to Basics - Scones

To be honest I am not a huge fan of scones unlike me Hans and Shyama loves it.

When I saw in the Daring Bakers foroum I had plans to make them though, but then days went by and I like to make my DB challenge when Shyama is home, as she also can enjoy them, but she is having exams this month, so she doesn't come home on weekend, as she will loose too much travelling from her place to ours so she has been staying there.

But then two days back it was such a dull day, it was dark, rainy ,windy etc etc.... and I thought why not do the Daring bakers, another reason to do is also, middle of next month I am going to visit my sis for a month so then I might not be able to do next 2 months of DB, unless if I make then in her place.
I do eat them but Hans just love them, well he loves everything which has whipped cream, I on the other hand is not a huge fan of whipped cream.

Mine didn't rise as much , as I added less baking powder by mistake so don't blame the recipe it was my silly mistake.

I think I will make them again once with the correct amount of baking powder.
I served it cold as I wanted to serve them with whipped cream and Jam.
This months Daring bakers is hosted by Audax Artifex.
He is like the Guru of the DB ,everymonth when there is a new challenge you know that he would ahve made the challenge in the first day or two and then he will be there helping with lots of doubts etc.....
Recipe is his own which he made many times to perfect it.

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled
Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm. recipe and he tried it so many times to perfect it.

Macaron With Cacao Butter Cream

Yeah yeah I know you all are saying again there she is with her Macarons.Truth be told If I could I would make them every day, as they are so elegant and beautiful to look at.

They do indeed taste good, even though they are sweet.
I think what makes Macarons taste special is their filling.
And I have told you in my earlier posts Hans who goes nuts when I make them, but truth be told he is turing around, he do like/Tolerate these beauties, especially if the filling is special and if it is spiked up with Boose :-)
You can see I had lot of free time yesterday as I was home alone  so wrote a elaborated post .

A macaron  is a sweet meringue-based confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring.

The confectionery is characterised by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference (referred to as the "foot"), and flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth.
Although predominantly a French confection, there has been much debate about its origins. Larousse Gastronomique cites the macaron as being created in 1791 in a convent near Cormery. Some have traced its French debut back to the arrival of Catherine de' Medici's Italian pastry chefs whom she brought with her in 1533 upon marrying Henry II of France.

In the 1830s, macarons were served two-by-two with the addition of jams, liqueurs, and spices. The macaron as it is known today was called the "Gerbet" or the "Paris macaron" and is the creation of Pierre Desfontaines of the French pâtisserie Ladurée, composed of two almond meringue discs filled with a layer of buttercream, jam, or ganache filling.
Thankyou Wikipedia for all the information, what will I do without you :-)

I used to draw circle on my baking paper untill I found this link from Meeta's place for these Templates.

Which made my life easier as I just had to print and just slip it under my baking paper and I has perfect cirlces for my Macarons.
I think the macarons are better kept a day in a tupperware closed in the fridge, but I have to admit I eat them the day itself one or two and the rest I keep in the fridge.
When I use butter cream filling, till now I have kept them for 5 days in the fridge and each day for afternoon coffee I take few and bring to the table.

This is a step by step pic from another Macaron post, used this as I didn't take pic this time.

I always stick to my Ottelonghi book, which till now has not failed me.

110gm icing sugar

60gm almond flour
60gm egg whites (of 2 eggs) ( Normally you have to age the egg whites, which I suggest you do too, but these days I find myself not agening them but I don't take the freshest egg, I just take egg which is atleast a week old and then make the Macarons when ever I want as I don't like the agening part of the whites as I am a impulisive baker, but don't listen to me age you eggs )

40gm castor sugar
Few drops of any food colour

Whiz the almond flour and icing sugar in the coffee grinder and sift 2-3 times

Whisk the egg whites and castor sugar till it forms a thick aerated meringue, firm but not too dry.
Turn the nut mixture into the bowl, and fold gently to get a lava type batter.Hold the tray firmly and tap the underside firmly. This should help to spread and smooth out the macarons.
Leave out, uncovered for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 150C (the original recipe has 170C).
Bake in preheated oven for about 15 to 17 minutes. They are ready when they readily leave the paper when liften with a palette knife. Remove from oven as soon as this happens, and leave to cool completely.
I take out the macaron shells when I take them out from the oven, and I do this trick always, slpash a little bit of water unders the baking paper which allows the Macaron to lift from the baking paper easily.

Vanila Butter Cream: Source Tartlette
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 large egg whites

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Few tbsp of Cacao liqueur

Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream.

Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
Add the liqueur to the buttercream and fold with a spatula until fully incorporated.

If not using right away, refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 1 month.
Sending this to this months Mactweet.