DARING BAKER BISCUITS aka SCONES

My daughter Tyca and myself love scones so much, we used to enjoy scones at DOME CAFE...very nice scones they served there. This snack could sometime be very confusing..some named it scones, some name it biscuits however these snack are quick bread that is raised using chemical agents usually baking powder and/or baking soda. Basic scones contain flour, raising agent(s), butter (or shortening or lard), salt, and milk (or buttermilk or soured milk or cream).Scones/biscuits contain only a small number of ingredients they are fast to make, quick to bake, only cost cents per batch and most importantly are super FUN to eat. In England and Australia scones are eaten with jam and butter usually with cups of tea or coffee mostly as a sweet snack, while in North America they are usually eaten with meals as a savoury side.

Scones/biscuits are always on the top list Afternoon tea menu. I am happy that I found this recipe and tip from Audax in foodgawker, can't really remember the blog owner's name but the information provided was a great help. I made one batch of it following the guidelines and tips given. My goodness it was simple but the result was fabulous.

Daring Baker Biscuit - Scones
source: adapted from  Audax

Makes about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
• 2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
• approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
• optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly colored on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

A summary of tips for better Biscuits, as mentioned by Audax:

• When sifting, sift the flour from a height, incorporating more air into the mixture. Also triple sift the flour with the other dry ingredients. This ensures maximum lightness in your scones and ensures even distribution of all the raising agents and other ingredients.
• Always work with really cold butter. The best way to ensure that is to grate the butter first and freeze it for at least 30 minutes before using it.
• Tenderness/flakiness of the scone depends on how you incorporate the butter into the flour- the size of the fat particles and how much of the flour is used to coat the fat. The finer the pieces the tender the crumb. For flaky scones- make the fat pieces large like lima beans and only lightly coat them in flour.
• Do not over-mix when incorporating the cold liquid into the flour. Over-mixing will result in less tender biscuits as gluten forms when mixing dough, so the more you mix, the more gluten forms. When a lot of gluten forms, it results in a heavier, denser bread.
• Since most scone (biscuit) doughs are soft (and sticky) it is best to use your fingers (instead of a rolling pin) to gently pat out the dough once it has been kneaded or folded and turned. Use a very light touch with little pressure while forming the dough rectangle to be cut into rounds for the scones. If you want tall scones then pat out the dough tall, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch (2 cm to 2½ cm) thick is about right.
• Use a well-floured scone (biscuit) cutter for each round that you stamp out from the dough. Do not twist the cutter while stamping out the scone, push down firmly until you can feel the board then lift the cutter.
• Place each scone almost touching onto the baking dish. This encourages the scones to raise and also keeps the sides soft and moist. If you want crisp sides widely space your scones on the baking dish.
• Resting the dough for 20 minutes helps in better handling of the dough and the final scones height, lightness and crumb. If you rest your patted out dough covered in plastic for at least 10 minutes in the fridge that the rounds are easier to stamp out and the final baked goods raise higher and have a better crumb.

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Saya dan anak saya Tyca memang peminat scones. Biasanya kita orang suka makan scones di DOME CAFE atau Winter Summer. Sedap dan cukup menarik cara penyediaanya persis ala Inggeris dengan kek, sandwich danEarl Grey Tea. Sesekali bersantai menikmati hidangan petang seperti ini memang hebat. Baru-baru ini saya terpandang satu N3 mengenai scones yang dipostkan oleh. seseorang yang saya terlupa hendak mencatit namanya. Menarik postnya bukan sahaja berkongsi resipi scones yang mudah malah beliau juga telah sama-sama berkongsi tips untuk menghasilkan scones dengan baik.

Saya happy sangat dapat informasi sebegini dan pada hujung minggu lepas saya tetst resipi dan tips ini di dapur saya...memang hebat scones yang lembut dan cukup sedap. Saya sediakan krim dan jem sebagai pelengkap scones. Di atas adalah resipi dan  tips yang disediakan oleh Audax. Bagi anda yang meminati scones...maklumat ini adalah amat berharga.

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