Friday 27 January 2012

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.

20 comments:

Cakelaw said...

I think your scone looks quite tempting filled with jam and cream - hope your hubs enjoyed them.

hotpotcooking said...

Great scone. Nicely done.

Gloria Baker said...

love scones Finla and love your pictures! gloria

Bombay-Bruxelles said...

I would have loved to do this one...
It's been a while... and yes, Audax Artifex is the DB super star :-)

Unknown said...

Wow scones is onto my todo since long...looks yumm

Suganya said...

Love to have such wonderful scones for breakfast hot from the oven. Nice recipe. YUM!

Cham said...

The oven temp is very high, The filling is great!

Ambika said...

Thanks for the warm welcome Finla!!! Loved the cream in the scones, I should make some more and eat them with cream now!!

Finla said...

Yeah cham isn't it a shame, i screwed up by adding wrong amonut of baking powder.

Jaya M said...

Fin,
We had a fun baking class in DD's school and guess what scones there too!! recipe was with raisins and at 200 deg C though..although i have never made them in home..someday will try it..enjoy your weekend..hugs and smiles

www.mahaslovelyhome.com said...

awesome..delicious
visit my space when u fine time....
maha

Unknown said...

perfect baker u r Finla....and the filling delicious!

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely scones... well you have to be daring baker to even try it...

The Betz Family said...

Glad you found the time to complete the challenge! They look yummy!

MyFudo™ said...

A pretty and rich scone you have on the picture. I would love to try this out sometime. thanks for the post!

Priya Suresh said...

Wish to have some scones for my breakfast, simply loving that filling.

abraham said...

The scones look hearty and filling.

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

Hello Happy Cook,
not sure if you remmeber me, but ring any bells of a "kitchen scientist" who used to blog years back? well, its the smae old me, back after a 3 yrs gap, on a new page - QuicK picks.

Lovley to be seeing old blogs, still soo live and going.

Raks said...

Scones sounds delicious, never tried baking one so far :)

sra said...

I can smell it all - the scones, the whipped cream - it's late, I think I'm going crazy!