on syrups

Maple syrup and pecans, another one of those golden combinations. For me, I feel it is perfect for a warm autumn morning. 

Recently, there has been much syrup business going on in the kitchen. Sticky, sweet and perhaps, an addiction. Nope, there definitely is one. Mrs. Roddick regrets the day she put maple flavoured syrup (that's right, the fake stuff) on my ice cream. But I thank her for rekindling my love for it. There is much debate on whether to use the real maple syrup or the artificial one. But I think both are equally delicious on pancakes. Just make sure to use the real thing when baking them with bacon or else, says she. 

It almost feels like a quiet weekend today, which will be sure to come tomorrow. Classes resumes on Monday marking the end of break.

It has been delightful to be able to slow down.

goodbye summer

The summer once gone, becomes something to remember. I have always welcomed March wholeheartedly. The cooler climate, crinkled brown leaves and a month of consecutive birthdays. Scones with lemon curd* are a must too! Think of it as an ode to the summer days.

*Making lemon curd is like making a custard (without the milk and starches) in a double boiler. I have reduced the sugar down to 100g and used 100ml of lemon and lime juice. The result is just the way I like it, tangy and tart. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream to balance out flavours. 

good morning, breakfast

Lots of rain, thunder and cloudy weather in Melbourne this week. Not that I mind, since I very much prefer the cold weather. Decided to try something different from the usual scone mixture again. To me, these ones were fluffy and less floury. When in the oven, the spices in the dough make your kitchen smell really good too! 

Looking forward to chop in a block of my favourite chocolate next time. The zest of an whole orange won't hurt either. Oh, and that egg yolk part, skip it (or brush with milk) if you want, since it just makes the tops more golden and shiny. 

strawberries and cream

I am proud to say scones changed my life! The first scones I ever made was way back in year eight. They were cheese and onion flavoured and came out rather successfully on a first attempt as a no0b attempt. From that experience and the teacher's guidance, it gave me the confidence to cook every week at school alongside my friends. Throughout the years, we went through both successes and failures. 

The 120 minutes of prac each week then, donned in a bright blue apron who needed a friend to tie my apron at the back when I was a junior. Slowly upgraded to a senior wearing a striped black and red apron with a compulsory hideous white cooking-apprentice-styled hat. I slowly began to apply my knowledge learnt in class and "upgrade" the recipes I learnt at school to recreate them at home. Then the blog started as a way of procrastination in VCE and I've grown to love photography as well. 

Three cheers to scones!  

   

I made strawberry (and walnut) scones almost a year ago, but I wanted something different this time. Using a cream scone base, I decided to replace part of the cream mixture with strawberry puree which gave the scones a light pink hue (doesn't show in the photos) and a lovely strawberry scent. Instead of being crumbly, these were kind of softer. They taste rather refreshing with honey sweetened whipped cream with chopped strawberries. 

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strawberry + cream scones

ingredients:

makes 20 x 5cm diameter scones

• 3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 4 Tb caster sugar
• 200 g strawberries, washed and hulled
• 2 Tb lemon juice
• 150 mL thickened cream + 50 mL if dough is dry
• 1 egg, beaten
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• milk, for brushing

method:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine the flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre.

Puree the strawberries and lemon juice in a food processor. Stir in the thickened cream, egg and lemon zest. Pour the cream mixture into the flour. Stir until nearly combined and add remaining cream if dough is dry or add some sifted flour if dough is too wet.

Empty contents onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead the dough until it comes together. Pat down the dough to about 5-6 cm thick.Using a floured cutter, cut dough and place onto the baking tray. Combine the remaining dough (do not knead) and continue to cut dough until there is no more.

Brush tops with milk. Bake for 15 minutes. Scones should be light golden.

For the cream: Whip cream in a food processor until soft peaks form. Add 1 Tb of yellow box honey (or caster sugar) at a time and pulse until the cream reaches your desired sweetness. Just before serving, finely chop strawberries and gently fold through.

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Enjoy them in the late morning or early afternoon, preferably near a window with the warm winter sun shining through.

pumpkin + cheese scones

Recently, one of my Japanese pen friends asked if I was doing anything for Halloween. I did say I was planning to make pumpkin pudding to "celebrate" Halloween, but exam study caught up so I had to ditch the idea :( There's always next year!
I gave candy to trick-or-treaters, but when I tried to give them more they ran away XD Which reminds me of the time when these two Asian guys told my friends and I to take more freebies at UoM's open day - we bolted!
Because I woke up early on a Melbourne Cup public holiday, I felt like experimenting and baked scones. If you ever make these, you have to eat them straight from the oven or at the very least while they are still warm! They are light and fluffy :)
Back to study. Tomorrow, after my maths exam, I shall make a bonfire and burn recycle all maths related work!!!
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pumpkin + cheese scones

ingredients:makes 9

• 1 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted
• 50 g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup sultanas (optional)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin, steamed or boiled until soft and roughly mashed
• milk
• grated cheese (I used mozzarella)
• salt and pepper, to taste

method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C conventional.
   Line a baking tray with grease proof paper.


2. Put sifted flour into a bowl, add the butter cubes and rub butter with fingertips until they resemble fine crumbs.


3. Add sultanas, walnut pieces and a handful of cheese.
   Mix through flour.


4. Add the mashed pumpkin and using your hands, gently bring together to form a dough.
   If the mixture is dry, add 2 Tb of milk at a time and stir through with a knife to make a soft dough.


5. Transfer to a lightly floured plate / chopping board and gently knead so the dough comes together.
   Pat dough to approx. 5 cm thick and cut rounds using a floured cutter.
   Gather off cuts and gently press them together and to combine and cut more rounds using a floured cutter.


6. Place them fairly close on a lined baking tray and top with extra cheese.


7. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and is golden.

chocolate scones

I bought cream the other day supposedly for my Portuguese tart which I never ended up making because I got lazy. Instead of throwing the cream out, I decided to make a batch of cream scones - just changing the recipe for some chocolate ones :) Made the scones for supper therefore the photo quality isn't that great.

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chocolate scones

oven:
200 degrees Celsius
fan forced

ingredients:
makes around 14, depending on size

• 3 cups self raising flour (minus 1 Tb), sifted
• 4 Tb brown sugar
• 1 Tb dutch cocoa powder, sifted
  (I would put more cocoa next time, for the colour)
• 1 cup good quality chocolate chips
• 1 egg
• 150 mL cream
• 150 mL milk
• extra flour, milk and sugar

method:


1. Combine the sifted flour, cocoa, brown sugar and chocolate chips in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

2. Whisk egg into cream and milk.

3. Pour the cream mixture into the flour.

4. Stir until nearly combined and empty contents to a flour dusted chopping board.

5. Gently knead the dough until it comes together and cut dough into desired size.

6. Place on a prepared baking tray, brush with milk and sprinkle a sugar (can use caster sugar too) on top.

7. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

They taste best when slightly cooled from the oven. Melted chocolate, yum!

masterchef scones

I usually get up at around 8 AM on a Sunday so I can do everything before going to Thangstahh's house for tutor, but I set my mobile to go off at 0615 before I went to sleep last night to make scones :) Call me crazy but scones are best straight from the oven on the day baked so I didn't want to make last night.

The recipe I used came from a reality show Masterchef Australia. At first I didn't watch the show, because I thought it would be like those typical reality shows where they just show people bitching about each other and so on. Unlike those shows, Masterchef shows not only the competition in the hospitality industry but also the tears of true disappointment when one is eliminated. Too bad I only started seriously watching it a few weeks ago T^T totally missed out...

I really like this recipe :) I didn't have to use the standard 'rubbing in' method which I hate but using the muffin technique of mixing the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. For me, the cream and the buttermilk gave the scone richness and the you could really taste the cream in it after baking. The dash of vanilla essence smelt nice in it too. This is also probably the only thing I can reproduce from Masterchef.
For some strange reason, my aunty said the dried apricots were sour...weird.

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masterchef scones
adapted from Gary Mehigan's date and lemon scones
later edited by me
oven:
200 degrees Celsius
fan forced

ingredients:
makes 12

• 3 cups self raising flour, sifted
• 3 Tb caster sugar
  + extra for sprinkling
• 1 cup dried fruit, roughly chopped
  (I used 3/4 cup apricots and 1/4 cup sultanas)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 150 mL milk
  + 25 mL if dough is dry
• 150 mL cream
  (I used 35% milk fat cream)
• 1 egg

method:
1. Combine sifted flour, caster sugar and dried fruit in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Make a 'well' in the centre.

2. Whisk milk, cream and egg until all combined.

3. Pour the milk mixture into the well.

4. Stir gently to form a soft dough. Add remaining milk if necessary.

5. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead gently until dough comes together. Roll out dough to 2 cm thick.

6. Cut dough using a floured round cutter. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper flat side up. Repeat with remaining dough.

7. Brush scone tops with milk and sprinkle caster sugar on top.

8. Bake for 10-15 minutes until scone is golden and well risen.

A sweet fruity scone to start the morning with a glass of frothy milk. Getting up early really paid off. Wrapped 2 pieces in foil and gave it to my tutor :) She says it's the best scone ever! :D

fruit scones

Anyone have tea to go with scones?

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fruit scones

adapted from The Baking Book by Jane Bull

published by DK

later edited by me

oven:

180 degrees Celsius

fan forced

ingredients:

makes 12 mini scones

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50 grams butter, cut into small cubes
• handful of dried fruits, cut into small pieces
  (I used dried mango)
• 3 Tb sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
  (normal milk or water can be used as well)

method:

1. Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

2. Add the butter cubes to the flour mixture.

3. Rub butter in with flour using your fingertips until it resembles crumbs.
4. Add the sugar and dried fruits. Stir to combine.
5. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture. Pour in the buttermilk.
6. Stir through the milk into the flour mixture to make a soft dough.
NOTE: If your dough is wet and sticky, sift about 1 Tb of flour on top to make it less sticky. If 1 Tb isn't enough, try using another Tb of flour.
7. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and roll out to the thickness you want it.
(I rolled my dough a bit too thin, that's why I have flat scones ;D)
8. Lightly flour a chopping board and place dough on top. Using a floured cutter cut the dough and place on a greased tray. Roll the leftover dough into balls.
9. Brush the scone top with milk.

10. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until scones are firm and golden.