BAKING,  DESSERTS,  VEGETARIAN

Baking| Sweet & Savoury Scones: Pistachio & Cranberry; Cheddar & Garlic Greens… back to the basics with the DBs

2012/01/27 / 36 Comments

“Simple is good.”
Jim Henson

Scones - Pistachio & Cranberry; Cheddar & Garlic GreensBless this man Audax. Was I thrilled to see a simple yet classic challenge to begin the year with. The holiday season being such a busy one, I was relieved to see scones, something that is quintessentially a tea table beloved, and a great snack anytime, dessert too. I managed 2 batches – Sweet & Savoury: Pistachio & Cranberry Scones; Cheddar & Garlic Greens Scones.Cheddar & Garlic Green Scones {eggless}

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!

What I didn’t envisage was the time and effort this good Daring Baker put into researching and experimenting with scones. Hats off to Audax from Audax Artifex!Cheddar & Garlic Green Scones {eggless} He offered so many versions, milk, buttermilk, cream , so much insight into making the perfect scone, getting into the crumb of things, things that make a scone what it is…and things that could lead to its failure!Cheddar & Garlic Green Scones {eggless} You got to love a challenge which challenges you to think of the chemistry behind the baking. MUST make sure the baking powder is ‘active, alive up-to-date’ else you can kiss ‘light as feather‘ scones goodbye! Use a dash of baking soda if you choose to go the buttermilk route … handy tips!Cheddar & Garlic Green Scones {eggless} I was so happy to use buttermilk though I failed to read the number of scones to be stamped out, and went with a dozen so mine didn’t rise sky high. There were a dozen but they were great. M U S T have them warm {or reheated} to know how sublime goof food can be!Cheddar & Garlic Green Scones {eggless} My word, the cheese and garlic scapes scones were to die for. I added some sea salt both within and sprinkled on top … and the son was soon begging for more. Split with a spoonful of a garlic chives dip …nirvana! It was time to go a step further … sweet scones this time!Pistachio & Cranberry Scones {eggless}The Thermomix makes these babies so FAST, so I was whipping up batch number two soon. Would make 8 this time I thought! I planned on orange vanilla scones that I would split and serve with strawberries and clotted cream, but a power cut 5 minutes into batch number 2 laid my plans to rest. Sigh … an hour later, power was back but the scones had been sent back to Stone Age!!Pistachio & Cranberry Scones {eggless}I was back to making another batch before I knew it; this recipe is so good and simple if you follow the basics! This time I did Pistachio and Dried Cranberry Scones, a good use for some ground pistachios and dried cranberries I had left over from a previous baking misadventure.Pistachio & Cranberry Scones {eggless} These came out beautifully too, the tops ‘dressed up‘ with flowers and leaves from dough trimmings. I had fun making these as well. Some were devoured with butter, and some with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, both divine! I didn’t get pictures of the latter, but they were GOOD!

Thank you Audax for a great daring challenge; it was delicious in every way and very satsifying. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the scones our other daring bakers have stamped out!

Scones - Pistachio & Cranberry; Cheddar & Garlic Greens

[print_this]Recipe: Savoury Scones: Cheddar & Garlic Greens your picture

Summary: Light as feather scones two way … sweet and savoury. Both good and great options for tea. {eggless/vegetarian}. The recipe is infinitely adaptable to individual tastes too.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Serving: About eight 2-inch scones or five 3-inch scones

  • 1 cup/140 gm plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (1/3 oz) fresh baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4-5 garlic scapes with greens, chopped fine
  • 90gm cheddar, grated, chilled
  • 3 tbsp/40gm frozen grated butter
  • ½ cup /120 ml cold buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones
  • Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sea salt for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to very hot 240°C.
  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. Add the cheddar and garlic and mix through with a fork.
  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.
  10. Note: For the Pistachio & Cranberry Scones, substitute the sea salt with 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, and add 1/4 cup of coarsely ground pistachios and dried cranberries, Don’t add the garlic, cheddar or toppings. The method is the same.

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About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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