Scones

~ Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 2:22 PM ~

When my brother in law heard about my journey into the baking world, he suggested I tried making scones. He told me to make in big batches and he'll be glad to pack them off and freeze them and eat it whenever he wants to. I've delayed making this cos I don't have the sufficient ingredients before this. Hence, this is my 1st attempt of making:

SCONES.

A brief info in case you're wondering what it is:

"The scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, but are eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent."

This recipe was adapted from "Baking (Frame By Frame Cookery) " book. FYI, I revised some of the exact recipe so am not sure whether mine turns out nice or not compared to the actual one. Btw, the last time I had scones was about 5 months before I delivered Ben. Was on a 3D 2N trip double date with my BFF at Cameron Highlands and that was the 1st time I tasted scones, though hubby doesn't even remember this anymore... sigh...

PREPARATION TIME: About 40 minutes, makes 9 scones

* About 10 minutes to mix & knead dough
* 12 minutes for baking process

Ingredients / Tool Required:

* A bowl to mix ingredients in
* Kitchen scale
* Baking tray lined with a baking sheet
* 450g plain flour plus extra for dusting
(I used wheat flour)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2tsp baking powder
* 2 tbsp caster sugar
* 55g butter, diced and chilled
* 250ml milk
(I used full cream milk) plus extra for glazing (I forgot to reserve some for glazing, ended up using choc milk to glaze)

What to Do?

* Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl, add the butter and rub in until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
* Stir in the sugar and make a well in the center.
* Pour in the milk and stir in using a palette knife and bring together to make a soft dough.
* Turn out the dough onto a floured surface.
* LIghtly flatten it until it is 1/2 inch thick.

* Cut out scones using a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter (I don't have a biscuit cutter, I used a round glass) and place on a lined baking sheet, brush with a little milk.

BAKING PROCESS

* Pre-heat oven at 220℃ for about 5 minutes
* Set oven to 210℃ and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and well risen. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

THE RESULTS

As I totally have no fruit jams at home, I made do with kaya (coconut) spread for hubby and butter for myself.

REACTIONS FROM MY "GUINEA PIGS"

* Test subject 1 (aka me): "Presentation wise, OK... though I think I really should not use chocolate milk to glaze it, but what the heck... Taste wise... Yummy!!! I love it! Even eating it plain also is delicious! And it definitely should be thicker!"

* Test subject 2 (aka Ben): "Ah ah ah" (opening mouth big-big) - check out the pictures below of Ben chomping down one of my scones... He had a few more bites later during tea time :D

* Test subject 3 (aka hubby): "They are nice in fact if you said you bought it I also believe only that the kaya a bit too little :P"

* Test subject 4 (aka MIL): "I just pinched some and tried. Taste like bread."


So there you go.... my 1st SCONES attempt! Overall, I'm happy with it! I cannot remember how the ones I first tasted few years back taste like but I love how mine turns out-kinda like the buns from McDonalds' McMuffin breakfast set mmmm mmmmm... To view my other recipes, feel free to hop over to my Recipe Library page for more info! I leave you with a few pictures of my little man chomping down one of my scones:

Brought to you by: Mama Baker wannabe aka