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Aug 16

Traditional Buttermilk Scones.

 

 

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Hello all. Once again I begin my post with an apology for not being consistent with my posts. Things in life have gotten quite crazy and I kinda lost my motivation for a bit there. But all seems to be on the up and up now, so we’re all okay on that front. Also the graphics card on the PC blew up recently which has significantly freed up my time to pay more attention to cooking … bye bye World of Warcraft.  *cries*

 

Now without the PC games I am forced to entertain myself with other methods, and cooking is the obvious choice. It’s not like I have not been cooking these past few months … I HAVE! But I have not been up to taking the pictures. Couple that with not really having anything to say about the food I just cooked. I have experimented with new things tho. For instance, I recently purchased my first pasta machine and made fresh egg fettuccine. It was a bargain buy in Lille, at only EUR 20 it was not something I could pass up. And then I made R. carry it round the city for me coz it was so bloody heavy!

 

 

Pasta Collage (800x800)

 

 

That weekend I got my mojo back and I was eager to get back in the kitchen. It’s inevitable I suppose … once you get the bug you simply cannot turn it off. The minute I start cooking something I automatically start churning out other ideas and I just run with it, and little by little I am doing the usual baking-at-midnight routine. The day we came home with my new pasta machine we instantly unpacked it and made fresh pasta at like 11 pm. It was brilliant!

 

Today I invited a friend and her dog round for tea. I knew she liked cheesecake but I did not have the ingredients nor the time to put one together. So I thought I’d make a simple tea-cake, but R. cajoled me into making scones instead. He’s a smart man and he got it absolutely right today ( … even tho I hate it immensely when he is). Rebecca’s eyes lit up when I told her I had made scones, and she freely admitted that she prefers scones to cake, any time, any day. Good call then, eh?

 

Now I don’t know about you guys, but I have never made perfectly tall scones EVER. And it is frustrating coz they make it sound so easy and so damn difficult all at the same time. They tell you things like “think light fingers”, “use extremely cold butter” and the all important “DO NOT OVER MIX!!” Whilst I will concede the last one is true, but after making these scones today, I am not too convinced about points one and two. The scones today came out as perfect as ever I saw  one: tall, rising straight up, crusty on the top while remaining lusciously flakey within. And I achieved all this with room temperature softened butter and mixing everything with a wooden spoon.

 

 

Buttermilk scones

 

 

 

       Traditional Buttermilk Scones (makes 10 – 12)

 

  • 500 g plain flour
  • 110 g softened butter
  • 40 – 50 g sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 250 – 300 mls cold buttermilk**

 

** If you do not have access to buttermilk, simply add a tablespoon of white distilled vinegar to whole milk of the same volume.

 

 

 

Place flour and sugar into a mixing bowl along with the salt and baking soda. Toss to combine and to aerate the dry ingredients.

 

Add soft butter and crumble it into the flour until mixture resembles fine sand.

 

Make a well in the middle and pour in 250 mls of cold buttermilk, reserving the final 50 mls in case the dough is too dry. Using a wooden spoon, stir everything together until a ball of dough forms. It should not feel wet or sticky. If the dough is too wet simply add a touch more flour.

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a ball. Lightly dust the top with flour and pat into a flat disc roughly an inch thick. When patting, be sure not to pat all the air out, so go lightly here.

 

Using a sharp pastry cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds by pressing the ring straight down into the dough. Do not swivel the cutter from side to side. Lift the cutter straight up and place the dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

 

Brush off extra flour off the tops of the scones and then paint each one with an egg-wash (one whole egg + a splash of cream).

 

Bake for 15 – 20 mins in a 200°C oven. Rotate the baking tray if necessary to ensure even browning on all the scones. If you want browner tops then simply turn on the broiler for the last two minutes before removing the scones from the oven.

 

 

Buttermilk Scones

 

 

 

Believe me, these babies came out so well it was hard to resist eating them fresh out the oven. I got a dozen scones from this one recipe and I made sure I kept one mis-shapen one aside for me to taste. We scoffed it. Then we could not wait for Rebecca to rock up so we could tuck in to the rest of the basket.

 

This is a very good base recipe for scones and I think in the near future I could expand the repertoire to include bacon and cheese varieties. I did do a Lemonade Scone version, and while those tasted delicious, they did not end up nice and tall. I believe it was a somewhat wet dough and I was quite afraid of it … all the scone red-tape playing in the back of my mind. I think if you are scared and intimidated by the scone it will smell your fear and do everything in its power to screw up your efforts. So take a deep breath and meet it head on with no fear … and all will be well.

 

I would have taken photos of these babies completely slathered with jam and cream, except we all got carried away and forgot about it (while we stuffed our faces). I was well pleased with the result and in the future I shall definitely feature a herbed version (with stew?) or a bacon and chilli one. Exciting times ahead in the kitchen and long may it last. I know I said this year would be the year I start making YouTube videos of my cooking but it has not materialized as yet. I have not forgotten … it’s just a little snag in my plans (financially). But definitely soon. In the meantime, enjoy this recipe and hurrah for cooler weather!!

 

 

~ Enjoy ~

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