TWD: Cream Scones

Light, moist and delicately crumbly. This simple scone has lovely taste and wonderful texture. I had one and then another, and when no one was looking, I had a third.

And apparently I wasn't the only one to think these scones were amazing, cause all 12 of these little beauties disappeared in just a few minutes.



Thanks Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu for an excellent Tuesdays with Dorie selection. It is now one of my favorites. Check out Lynn's site for the recipe or find in on page 17 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours.

PS: I did make a few minor modifications to the recipe. I used 7 tablespoons of butter instead of 5, I used 4 tablespoons of sugar instead of 2 (plus I sprinkled some additional sugar on top), and I added a teaspoon of almond extract. I baked them for 19 minutes (my oven runs hot) on a baking stone.

I hope yours turn out as amazing as mine :)

TWD: Toasted Almond Scones

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
I love your Toasted Almonds
I love your Ground Almonds
I love your Chopped Almonds and Almond Extract too...

Sigh, Almond Scones are one of my favorite things so I was so excited when Mike of Living Out West selected them for Tuesdays with Dorie's weekly baking assignment.


The ingredients were typical scone stuff and came together beautifully, but as Dorie warned in her book the dough was very, very sticky. What a mess!!!


But I just floured my hand extra well, and voila, nice pretty wedges.


Oops, I forgot to separate the wedges before baking (I'm getting so forgetful in my old age), but they still came out looking pretty nice (or at least I thought so). Plus they puffed up like a Puffer Fish on steroids. Truly amazing. I guess it was all that baking powder in the mix :)


So how did they taste?

Well honestly I was just a little disappointed.

I have a horrendous sweet tooth and these scones had just a hint of sweetness. I guess I could have slathered it with jam, but I didn't have anything suitable (scone worthy) in the frig.

But I didn't despair. I had mixed a full batch and froze half the dough, so I'll bake up the second half and have another taste test this weekend. Yea, more scones. This time I'm gonna drench those little babies in Blackcurrant jam and Jersey Cream. I'll let you know how they taste.

TWD: Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

I just got back from vacation ( a Carnival cruise but thankfully not the one that was stranded at sea with no power and water), so I had to scramble to get this week’s assignment finished on time.

Ta-Da
Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry (Blueberry) Shortbread Cake

This week’s TWD selection was made by Jessica of The Singleton in the Kitchen (click here for recipe). Way to go Jessica, you made a delicious choice.

Because of my late return I didn’t have time to go to the store and get cranberries, so I had to raid the refrigerator and use what was on hand. The only non-moldy fruit I could find in the frig was some slightly expired blueberry fruit spread. It wasn't too, too expired so I decide to take a chance. (I'm such a rebel.)


Like many other TWD bakers, I grated the dough instead of trying to roll it out to the correct size. The grating was a lot easier but also a lot messier.


So how did it taste?

Pretty darn good.

Kinda like a cross between a sugar cookie and a scone. Crunchy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. Not too sweet, with a little tartness from the fruit. In the book Dorie also suggest using caramelized apples instead of cranberries. I think I’ll give that a try for Thanksgiving. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Ginger Blueberry Scones

I had a grueling baking schedule planned for this past weekend but the glorious weather lured me away from my kitchen. Early Sunday morning the temperature was 61 degrees and 50% humidity. In New Orleans! In the middle of August! Crazy, freaky weather.

I did manage to keep myself inside long enough to bake one item: Ginger Blueberry Scones. They just took a few minutes to mix and bake, and then I sat on my patio (with a blanket) and had breakfast Tea & Scones.



Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose sifted flour
* 1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling tops
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
* 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
* 1 teaspoon lemon zest
* 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
* 2 large eggs

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, ginger, and salt. Note: if you like a sweeter scone (like me), use 1/3 cup of sugar instead of the listed 1/4 cup, if you like really sweet scones, use 1/2 cup of sugar. If you want coffee cake instead of scones, use 3/4 cups of sugar. If you want... well you get the idea.

3) Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and using a fork, your fingers or a pastry blender, cut the butter until the largest pieces are the size of small peas.

4) Stir in blueberries and zest.



5) In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and eggs.

6) Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the cream/egg mixture.



7) Stir lightly with a fork just until the dough comes together.



8) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times. Don't over mix or the scones will be tough.

9) Place the mound of dough on a baking stone and pat into an 8" round about 1-1/4 inch thick.

10) Brush the top with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

11) Using a floured knife, score the top of the dough into 8 wedges. Only cut half way through the thickness of the dough, don't cut all the way through.



12) Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. I like mine extra golden brown so I baked it another 5 minutes.



13) Remove baking stone from oven and using the score lines previously made in dough, cut the scones apart.

14) Transfer the scones to a wire rake to cool. Or just eat them hot like me.