Thursday, May 3, 2012

Scones for the Avid Bakers Challenge

For this month Avid Baker's Challenge we got a recipe with a long name: "Big-batch scone mix a.k.a. scrumptious scones for hurried people" from "The Weekend Baker" by Abigail Dodge. I don't think I've made scones before. I ate them on several occasions and saw them being made on quite a few cooking programms on the BBC. So I know they have to be fluffy and flaky and are not to be overworked when making the dough.

I didn't make the big batch, but just made enough for 8 scones. Making the larger badge is very handy when you want to bake them more often, but as I didn't want to do that at this point I made a small batch instead.
I choose the orange zest/cranberry version and that was really delicious. I'm not sure if they meant to rise more, but they were lovely buttery and tasted like orange cake (maybe even better!). I also liked the fact that you just cut the dough in wedges. I saw scones being cut out with a round cutter on tv, and then you'd have to rework the left overs which doesn't do the scone texture much good.

One (maybe) handy tip for handling the dough. As it was very sticky and hard to handle, I placed the dough on a large piece of parchment paper and shaped it into a round by lifting up -one side at the time- and pressing the dough together and in shape with care. (Hope you can follow that) Anyway that worked for me.


I certainly will make some more scones in the near future, because they were eating with love by the whole family. As usual I substituted the dairy (buttermilk/butter) with soy yogurt(with some lemon juice added)/veg. margarine. Can't wait to find out the next challenge....

9 comments:

Laura said...

Lien, scones freeze really well unbaked, always ready on a whim.

The batter shouldn't be too wet, maybe you can add a little less liquid next time. I know that when too wet they don't rise as well.

kitchen flavours said...

Orange and cranberries, next time I'll do this flavour! These scones are really good! I can see the orange zest in yours, very nice! Looking forward to next month's Brioche!!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Karen and now you ... I need to bake some scones. Orange and cranberry does sound excellent. I'll second Laura above, these would freeze super well and be ready as soon as your oven heats-a minute or two extra of baking and they're perfect. Need to mix some and freeze them before my Dad and Sis are here.

Hanaâ said...

They look very pretty, and I especially like the dark fruit jam that you added on top (what kind is it? bosvruchten?). My dough was not very wet (just right actually). You might want to use less liquid next time. Something I learned from Levine (uit de keuken van Arden) is that American flour absorbs more water than European flour. I used Unbleached All Purpose Flour for this recipe.

Karin Anderson said...

Very nice! I know it's tempting to add more liquid, when there still some flour that's not incorporated. Making the dough for the scones reminded me of Irish soda bread.

Karen Baking Soda said...

Really really nice Lien! Love your flavour choices.

(wow your blog looks great! You talented girl you!)

Joy said...

Hi Lien!

I'm Joy from "Hot Oven, Warm Heart," and I just became a member of ABC. I’m so happy to be a part of the group, and make some new blogging baker friends- hopefully you included.

Your scones came out lovely- perfect split open and served with jam. I actually ended up using the same parchment paper technique you described. Next time I'm going to dump out the dough on plastic wrap, which you can manage a bit easier than the parchment (that's how I bring my pie dough together too!)

I just wanted to tell you, I read your "About" page, and I absolutely agree with the sentiment that you can never have enough cookbooks, baking pans, or kitchen gadgets. I had to laugh, because my cookbook collection looks just like yours with all the sticky tabs peaking out. I guess we have a bit in common already :)

If you have a chance, I'd love it if you'd stop by and check out my scones too! Hope to hear from you soon. Have a great weekend!

Fondly,
Joy
http://hotovenwarmheart.wordpress.com/

Alice said...

hi Lien,
your scones are just perfect...
i love the pic where the scones split opened and served with jam... yum! :)

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

irresitable & tempting..:P
new to your space
lovely space you have
happy following you Lien..:)
do stop by mine sometime
Tasty Appetite