Normally, if I make fresh scones, muffins or if I don't have any pancakes that I have frozen from a bulk batch made previously, it is on a Saturday. Last Sunday was an oversleeping fluke. So today I made a batch of scones.... cause tonight it's early to bed and early to rise..... and off to church in the morning. Anyway, the batch I made was a very typical batch. The recipe I used was just about like so many others I've tried. The scones were great when they first came out of the oven. They were even good after about an hour. After that they went lifeless and become a little chewy, and the flavor diminished. These were lemonade scones. I thought that sounded great, being a big lemon lovin' fan. I figured the lemon flavor would be subtle. It was non-existent. I added dried cranberries to half of the batch because I really enjoy cranberry and citrus together. I was glad I did since that was the only real flavor. So, I guess I am done trying new scone recipes. I've been at it quite a while and until last Sunday, I am always disappointed. Last Sunday, I developed a recipe that was great fresh, good later cold, and just as good reheated the next day. So, I am sticking to my original plan and taking that recipe and adding things like lemon zest, cranberries and other dried fruits, blueberries and other fresh fruits, chocolate chips, and anything else I can think of that would work in a scone. I am so happy with that recipe that I may even break out of the traditionally sweet mold, and try savory using herbs, cheese and flavorful meats. You just never know. :-) But, unless Marks and Spencer, or the someone on the kitchen staff at Balmoral sends me another scone recipe, I'm done looking.Living in a climate where the weather is such that you can enjoy eating outside for only a few and short precious months, we eat just about every meal on the deck. We love it!! The picture I took of the scones before we ate had so much sunlight that their true color wasn't portrayed. This is the same batch of scones, the color just seemed a little truer inside than out. Now,I'm glad I took a picture when they came out of the oven.
Father's Day is tomorrow. You know what I like about Mother's Day and Father's Day? Two things. One, it does give you a time to set aside and honor that parent. Two, and this is by far the more important reason........ it's Scriptural. In both the Old and New Testament we are commanded to honor our parents. It is the first commandment with a promise, and what a promise!!
And speaking of honoring....
Be blessed..........
2 comments:
Oh, Teresa, I am so sad that the Lemonade Scone recipe did not work as well for you as it did for me. My suspicion is that something was lost in the translation. Could be that an ingredient is not the same in the United States as here in Australia or your method is not the same because I have not been clear enough? Don't want to drive you made on this but perhaps we could write to one another about this if you wanted to. You could go to my email address off my profile. You could let me know exactly what you used and how you mixed them. My experience with batters, pastries and doughs is that sometimes there is a bit of experience, or practice needed when starting out. In Australia, we generally would add only dried fruit - usually sultanas or currants or dates - although sometimes people use mixed fruit (this last is a commercial mix of dried fruit: sultanas, currants, raisins, citrus peel). Savoury scones would usually have cheese and/or herbs. We wouldn't use meat. Then there are Pumpkin Scones. With the lemonade scones, the purpose - I believe - is not to add a lemon flavour but to gain the rising and lightness in the scones from the carbonation in the drink. Using cream instead of butter is another factor in the lightness, I think. In our general baking we use either self-raising flour (do you use this in the States?). This is flour which already has leaveninig in it. I know that your all purpose flour - I think that's what you would call it - is what we would call plain flour. If we were using plain flour, we would add a teaspoon of baking powder to each cup of plain flour unless the recipe specified otherwise. For instance, a fruit cake might require bi-carbonate of soda instead of baking powder because that will darken the cake as well as leaven it. There is no need to use a dough hook when mixing the lemonade scones. They can be mixed by hand. Using a knife can be a good idea when mixing dough by hand. However, when turning out the dough to knead it, it must only be kneaded lightly with the palm of your hand (not fingers), sufficient to have a nice, firm, elastic dough. Over kneading is very easy to do with scones but should be avoided. I hope we can be in touch.
Miss Eagle,
Thank you for taking the time with this comment, and thank you for the offer to email you. I would like to be in touch. The thought of chatting with you about baking... or any number of things would be great. I will go to your profile as you say and email you. I agree, let's stay in touch!
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