Maple Tea Scones

I first got curious about scones when I tried one in Chicago. We were staying at the Palmer House Hilton and Sunday morning found us wandering the neighborhood for something that looked breakfast-y and open. (Call me naive, but I hadn't realized that many restaurants in downtown Chicago would be closed on Sundays).

We finally found a bakery and I grabbed an orange scone and ate it on the fly.

For a few steps, that is.

The little bit of saliva that naturally resides in your mouth was not equal to the task of moistening this hunk of arid dough.
I found a drink and tried manfully to wash the floury wad down without spraying my brand new husband with a flurry of very dry crumbs.

It was pretty embarrassing. Here I was, trying to impress said husband that I was cosmopolitan, familiar with foreign pastries like scones that neither of us had grown up with. But this--this--thing should have been enough to teach me to avoid scones like The Plague, if not for the wonderful chain, Panera Bread Co.

"But that's not real--it's mass-produced schlock!" You cry.

I know. I'm a baker, remember? But they do make a mean orange scone: moist, more cake-like in crumb, with a tasty orange glaze over it. I've put a few of those puppies away in the past few years, I admit.
My point, however, is that Panera has shown me that it is possible to create something much more palatable.

(Cut to a shot of a computer with a wild-eyed woman feverishly scanning recipes on the internet.)

I'm happy to say that I now have a cache of favored scone recipes that are my go-to's every time I find myself with leftover cream from making, oh, let's say, ganache from something horridly high in calories and v-e-r-y satisfying.

All of the recipes preserve a natural moistness and flavor. The one I share today is especially cake-like, delectably maple-ish, although I did whip up a maple syrup/confectioner's sugar glaze for it because you can't have too much of a good thing.

So, for today, I give you--



Maple Tea Scones

3 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 C. unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. good vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or use parchment paper to line it.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter with a fork or pastry blender or use a heavy duty electric mixer until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a 1 cup measure, combine the milk, syrup and vanilla. Add to the dry mixture and stir until a sticky dough is formed, adding a few more tablespoons milk if the dough is too stiff.

Turn out the shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently about 6 times, just until the dough holds together. Divide into three equal portions and pat each into a 1-inch thick round about 6 inches in diameter. With a knife, cut each round into quarters, making 4 wedges. The scones can also be formed by cutting out with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Place the scones about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.

Bake for 16-20 minutes until crusty and golden brown. Serve immediately with jam or Devonshire cream. Or whip together a glaze of maple syrup, confectioner's sugar and a bit of milk and drizzle over scones.

These are incredibly good just after they're cooled, but they also keep very well for 2-3 days in an airtight container.*





*found this recipe at thatsmyhome.com so thank Hannah when you see her!

The Second Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Around

Today's recipe, boys and girls, is adapted from The New York Times, July 9, 2008.

This is--ta da...

Grand Marnier Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This is a good cookie recipe. It's not a great recipe, but it's a good one.
I wish I could remember where I found it. Friends, family, and ex-boyfriends all know that
my memory is by now like Swiss cheese: full of holes. I throw that out at the beginning of our relationship because it's only fair that you read this blog fully informed.

It's really not much different than various and sundry other recipes I've tried over the course of my baking life, except for the Grand Marnier.
I was so hoping that the addition of this gorgeous liquid would elevate this recipe
to the level of unusual and unique, bringing me accolades and ticker tape parade status.

But no.

Truth to tell, I (with my highly trained and discerning taste buds) couldn't even detect the Marnier in it. And that lovely stuff is too expensive to use in anything where it doesn't shine through.

That said, here is the recipe. Let me know what you think of it. Can you taste this?


Grand Marnier Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

2 C. minus 2 Tbsp. cake flour
1 2/3C. bread flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 C. light brown sugar
1 C. plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
Zest of one orange
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. Grand Marnier orange liqueur
1 1/4 lbs. bittersweet chocolate, 60% cocao content, chopped into chunks. **


Method:

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars, and zest togeether until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir inthe vanilla and Grand Marnier. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5-10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them into the dough. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 12-36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerate for up to 72 hours.




When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non -stick baking mat. Set aside.

Scoop six 3 1/2 oz mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls: about a 1/3 of a cup***) onto each baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving. Yield: over 2 dozen, depending on size of dough mounds.




** Of course, I used more than the stated 1 1/4# of chocolate (it's a sickness, I tell you.)

*** I used a standard-sized ice cream scoop to make the dough mounds and it worked well.

One day very, very soon, I will deliver what I (and the unwashed hordes that I call 'family') consider The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.

You don't expect me to give away all my best secrets right away, do you? Then you'd have no incentive to keep coming back! Ta!

Hello again.

I'm back rather quickly, but I have a reasonable if pathetic reason: since I finally found the key to my universe last night around 11:00pm (said key being the simplest way to get pictures onto my posts) I really need to repeat the process quickly, before my Swiss cheese brain has time to forget it.

So here it is: one of my favorite recipes for chocolate chip scones. Most of my scone recipes call for heavy cream, but this one uses buttermillk, which I never have on hand. However, I substitute regular milk with 2 teasp. of vinegar added to make it go sour. This works like a charm every time.
Being the chocolate fiend that I am, if I omit the fruit pieces, I usually double the amount of chocolate chips to compensate. I have also used mini chocolate chips but found them too small for the big chocolate taste I was looking for. Nestle's chocolate chip chunks work even better.
It's a sickness. I should be pitied, not scorned.

Chocolate Chip Scones

2 C. flour
1/4 C. white sugar
1 1/4 teasp. baking powder
1/4 teasp. baking soda
1/4 teasp. salt
1/2 C. unsalted butter, cold and cut into slivers
1/2 C. milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. dried cherries or cranberries (opt)
1 teasp. vanilla
2/3 C. buttermilk


Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones before baking:

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon milk

Cinnamon Sugar: (opt., I don't usually use this because I prefer the chocolate to be the primary taste focus)

2 T. sugar
1/4 teasp. cinnamon


Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, bakng powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into slivers and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cherries (if using). In a small measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until the dough comes together (add a bit more buttermilk if necessary). Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a ligihtly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of 1 beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush over the tops of the scones. To make the cinnamon sugar, mix sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with a little of the
mixture.




Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Makes 8 scones.



(adapted from a recipe from The Joy of Cooking.com)

The Daring and Delicious Experiment

I'm back.

And this time, I've got pictures! That is, if I can get all my ducks in a row, photograph-wise. I've spent several hours today perusing the software manual of my camera and what the heck! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I'm going to give it a go, throw it against the wall and see if it sticks, kick the tires and take it out for a spin, stick a fork in it and see if it's done, etc.

If I can't get the pictures to show up in the blog, well, I'll be the one curled up in the corner rocking back and forth as I bang my head on the wall.

Food Talk

This is one of my favorite recipes from the family archives. I come from a long line of incredible bakers and cooks, as many of you do, and I treasure the recipes I've cajoled out of my relatives over the years. Except for most of my mother's, that is, since she's one of those cooks that, when asked for a recipe, laughs and says, "Oh, I just threw this together. There really is no recipe." It's the answer that always makes me grind my teeth and growl. Then I tell her the next time she makes the coveted cake, cookie, etc. she'd better write down the ingredients and amounts so I don't tear out my hair. And she laughs again, but she complies, and that's the great thing.

This recipe, however, came from my second cousin in Illinois, so it's aptly named---



Lou Ann's Apple Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. vegetable or canola oil ***
2 C. sugar
2 teasp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 C. diced apples
3 C. sifted flour
1 teasp. cinnamon
1 teasp. baking soda
1 teasp. salt

Method:

Pour oil and sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat well.
Add the vanilla and eggs and beat well again.
Add the apples. Do not beat again after adding them.


Combine the flour, cinnamon, flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk together and stir into apple/oil/sugar mixture. It will be very thick. Pour or scoop it into a greased 9x13 " pan (you can sprinkle additional sugar on the top of the batter if you like) and bake for 1 hour.


***I know, I know, I had a mild heart attack when I saw the amount of oil used, too. But if ever a cake was justified by such a godawful amount of something so bad for you, this cake is it. I've always thought that someday I'd like to try substituting applesauce or something else in place of at least part of that oil, but have yet to try it. Probably because I would feel obliged to eat it even if the results were sub-par.

This cake works very well as a coffee cake, eaten at breakfast. Or at least that's how I rationalize it in JaneWorld.

Enjoy!

Hold On, I'm Coming!

I've got it!

I've got a shiny new Canon digital camera. This baby does things I didn't know a camera could do. I can't believe all the editing you can do to your pictures either. I think I may have taken a bite slightly larger than my mouth this time, but I'm determined to figure this stuff out. I've taken a few pictures already, being the kind that learns best by dicking around until I figure something out, but I promised myself that this time I will read the manual.

It may take a few days to figure out how to take good pictures, and then how to post them, but I'll get there, never fear.

Hold on, I'm coming! (am I the only one hearing Sam and Dave singing?)

Jane