An Updated Scone Recipe

A couple of months back I discovered a brand-new publication called "BAKE from scratch". I have written about the magazine, most recently in my blog post of November 12, 2015. The magazine is absolutely gorgeous. I am not affiliated with the magazine, or it's owners or contributors in any way. I just fell in love with the magazine. I just today bought the 2nd edition. In the Premiere edition, there were recipes for 8 different kinds of scones. Let me say right here,

"I LOVE SCONES!"

So, over the course of the couple of months since I bought that premiere edition, I have made all but one of the scone recipes. I took the magazine with me when we went out to Denver over the holidays. We were gone three weeks and I made two of the scone recipes while visiting with my sisters. One of them that I had been putting off making was for Earl Grey Currant Scones. What is interesting is that a couple of years back I had created a recipe for Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans. At that time, I used my own "base recipe" and tweaked it to use the ingredients as I wanted them. Some of my methods were a little fussy, perhaps. Still, the scones were, hands-down, the best scones, ever. Obviously, this is my own personal taste, but even smelling them baking was amazing. This is that older recipe I created two years ago:

Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans

Makes 8 scones

Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans

1 tablespoon loose leaf Earl Grey tea, or 2 teabags
¼ cup boiling water
½ cup currants
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon lavender flowers
1 cup cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup organic coconut sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, very cold
⅔ cup pecans, in coarse chunks
More buttermilk and sugar for brushing and sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 on Convection Bake). Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. Soak the Earl Grey tea in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain the tea over a small bowl with the currants. Press down on the tea - leaves or bag - to get all the liquid possible. Set aside. Measure out the buttermilk and stir in the lavender flowers to soak. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together both kinds of flour, the sugar baking powder, soda and salt. Either grate the cold butter into the flour mixture on a large holed grater, or cut the butter into small cubes. Work the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly, using either fingertips or a pastry cutter. Add both the currants with any remaining tea and the buttermilk/lavender mixture and toss lightly with a fork until the mixture begins to come together. Add in the pecans.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and pat out to about a 10-inch diameter circle. Fold the dough in half, patting and pressing out again to a circle. Repeat the folding and patting put about 6 to 8 times. Now pat out the dough to about an 8-inch diameter circle. Cut across into either 6 or 8 wedges. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, about ½ inch apart. Brush the tops with some buttermilk and sprinkle a good pinch of sugar evenly over the surface. Bake the scones for about 20 minutes, until golden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is little about scones I don't like. I am of the "no egg" mindset when it comes to scones, and that usually leaves them a bit dry and crumbly. I love them anyway. I have always loved using buttermilk in scones or biscuits, so I compensated on the fat (for moistness and tenderness) by using a whole stick of butter.  

Updated Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans

Enter the New Magazine 

When I got the "BAKE from scratch" magazine and found all the scone recipes, I noticed that they, too had a base recipe, off of which all the recipes were created. Some that had something moist added in (sweet potato or ricotta, for example) used a little more flour to compensate. All the recipes used about the same amount of salt, baking powder and sugar. Instead of buttermilk, they used heavy cream and they used less butter than I had been using in my recipes. 

While visiting with my sisters, I made the recipe for Earl Grey Currant Scones from "BAKE". I was interested in them from various angles. Would they be more moist and tender, due to the amount of butter and the use of heavy cream? Would they be better than how mine came out, or would they fall behind in the flavor department? One thing that was done very differently in the magazine's recipe is that instead of brewing the Earl Grey tea, they ground it, left it dry and added it to the flour. While they did not plump the currants at all, if one has moist currants it doesn't really matter. 

Updated Earl Grey Currant Scones
with Lavender and Pecans

Ultimately, while I liked the recipe from "Bake", I did miss the addition of the lavender and pecans. I resolved to make some changes in my recipe and see how they would come out. I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk. I used 5 tablespoons of butter instead of 8. I used more baking powder, no soda and more salt. But to make the recipe less fussy, I also ground the whole leaf Earl Grey tea and added it to the flour mixture. I kept the part about soaking the lavender flowers. 

The outcome was wonderful. While the look of the scones was no different from my old ones, and even the flavors were not different enough to detect from memory (last time I made them was 8 months past), I think that there was a difference in moistness and tenderness. I believe from now on I will make my Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans using this new method.

MAKE-AHEAD ALERT!

Something I started doing while at my sister's house making scones: I combined the dry ingredients and cut in the cold butter the night before, adding in the currants or nuts (as the recipe might call for) and then covered the bowl tightly and refrigerated overnight. This saved time in the morning, when all I had to do was preheat the oven, add the cream to the dry mixture and form the scones before baking. This is something I found particularly helpful, particularly in guest situations, when preparing things in the morning can end up chaotic. Having most of the prep done and cleaned up is wonderful, and I will be using this method most often from now on, guests or no!

Updated Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender & Pecans

Earl Grey Currant Scones, just baked

Makes 8

1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea (from sachets or whole, ground) 
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
½ cup currants
½ cup chopped pecans

extra 1 - 2 tablespoons heavy cream
extra sugar for topping

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Set a piece of parchment onto a baking sheet.

Stir the lavender flowers into the cream and set aside while prepping the dry ingredients. In a large bowl combine the flour, tea, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. If you own a very sturdy pastry cutter, add in the cold, unsalted butter and cut in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Otherwise, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture with a larger holed grater and proceed to cut in the butter as described. Stir in the currants and the pecans. Add in the heavy cream and lavender flowers and mix quickly with a fork to moisten. Gather the mixture gently and quickly, as for pie dough, handling as little as possible. 

Depending on where you live and what the humidity level is, you might need a little more cream to get all the crumbs to come together.

Before and After Baking - showing why they must be set apart to bake!

Once most of the crumbs adhere together, spray a counter with non-stick spray and turn out the dough. Pat into an 8-inch circle. Use a large chef knife or a bench scraper to cut the circle into 8 wedges. Use the knife or scraper to lift each wedge to the prepared parchment lined pan, keeping them at least 1-inch apart. Brush the tops with the extra heavy cream and then sprinkle the tops with the extra sugar.

Bake the scones for 13 to 18 minutes, until golden.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Revisiting a Past Recipe

Last year's Lavender Nut Tea Loaf, in pieces

Nearly one year ago, I created a recipe for a dessert loaf I called Lavender Nut Tea Loaf. I had an idea and put it together, baked it. It smelled heavenly. It ended up tasting sublime. The part in between was the rub. Trying to take it out of the loaf pan was a complete and total disaster. It came out in bits and pieces, as it stuck to the pan.

All these bits and pieces were eaten, but there was no way to take a lovely photo of any of it, as it just broke up so completely. I titled that blog "Triumph and Failure Hand in Hand." Today I was thinking about that recipe and decided to take another look. Believe me, I have thought of it many times over this past year, but only today it seemed I had both the inclination and the time to revisit this recipe.

Thinking back, I was of the impression I had used yellow summer squash in the recipe, but that was incorrect. Today I did have some little patty-pan squash on the counter, so in making a revision of the recipe, and I did add some of those. Other things I decided to change were lowering sugar content as well as fat content. I skipped eggs completely and used flax meal and water as an egg-substitute (soak for 10 minutes - 1 tablespoon of flax meal with 3 tablespoons water to equal 1 egg). I used applesauce instead of some of the fat. I kept the same amount of lavender flowers in the recipe since these were the main flavor component.

Today's loaf, perfect and whole

In the past, using gluten free flours has seemed to result in a more moist bread, so I went that route. I found, when breaking out the calories, carbs and all those other nutritional considerations, that gluten free flours are far higher in carbs than regular all-purpose flour. Oh well. I used some of the recipe mix for a gluten free flour of: 6 cups brown rice flour, 2 cups potato starch and 1 cup tapioca starch  as the flour in the recipe. To the 2 cups worth of this flour blend used for the loaf, I added ½ teaspoon of guar gum.

When mixing up the final recipe, I completely forgot to add in the nuts. I intended to use ¾ cup, just as in last year's recipe. Instead, I lowered the amount, since the batter was already in the loaf pan, and just lightly chopped and pressed them onto the top of the batter before baking. The bread rose beautifully and baked in about 48 minutes. It is still cooling in the kitchen, so I have yet to see how this comes out of the pan. I did spray the pan with cooking spray and then used one narrow piece of parchment to line the pan across the bottom and long sides. I pray this will be enough to release the loaf. I will find out shortly. Here is my revised recipe, gluten and egg-free.

Lavender Nut Tea Loaf II

Makes one (8 x 4-inch) loaf

Lavender Nut Tea Loaf II

3 tablespoons (0.18 oz. / 5 g) dried lavender flowers
¾ cup (6 fl. oz. / 180 ml.) 1% buttermilk
2 tablespoons (0.50 oz. / 14 g.) golden flax meal
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1½ cup yellow summer squash, grated
½ cup (4 oz. / 113 g) unsweetened applesauce
½ cup (3.67 oz. / 104 g.) sugar
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 packets Sweet Leaf Stevia
2 cups (4.70 oz. / 132 g.) gluten free all-purpose flour mix
1 teaspoon (0.14 oz. / 4 g.) baking powder
1 teaspoon (0.18 oz. / 5 g.) baking soda
½ teaspoon (0.07 oz. / 2 g.) guar gum
½ teaspoon (0.11 oz. / 3 g.) salt
½ cup (1.85 oz. / 51 g.) walnuts or pecans

Spray an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment, at least one way. Spray the parchment. Set pan aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 on Convection Bake).

Set the lavender flowers in the buttermilk to soak for at least 15 minutes. Set the flax meal into the 6 tablespoons of water to soak for at least 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the grated squash with the cooking oil, applesauce, sugar, vanilla and stevia packets. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk or sift together the gluten free flour mixture with the baking soda, baking powder, guar gum and salt. Set aside.

To the squash mixture, add in the buttermilk and lavender mixture with the soaked flax meal and all its liquid. Stir well to combine. Add in the dry ingredients, stirring until all the ingredients are well moistened. You do not have to worry about over beating with gluten free flours. Either add in the nuts to the batter and mix, or pour the batter into the pan and place the nuts on top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with barely a crumb or two. Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely on a rack before slicing.
Based on 12 slices, each slice contains: 225 calories, 3.5 g protein, 4.6 g fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 
42.5 g carbs, 2.5 g fiber, 42 mg potassium and 256.5 mg sodium.

To make this recipe vegan as well as gluten free and egg free, substitute a nut or seed milk for the buttermilk, reduce the baking soda to ½ teaspoon and increase the baking powder to 1½ teaspoons. If nut allergies are a problem, simply leave out the nuts.
 

Lavender Nut Tea Loaf II, perfect and whole

The Verdict?

The loaf came out of the pan with great ease, even leaving the parchment behind in the pan. The ends did not stick at all. I believe this recipe revision would allow for not lining the loaf pan at all. 

The flavor is as good as I remembered, i.e. delicious! The loaf baked and tested done all through, yet is still so moist it is difficult to slice. Not impossible, mind you, only difficult. Using regular all-purpose flour would likely remedy this part, as wheat flour seems to be drier in general. In future I might bake it a bit longer or add in an extra ¼ cup of the GF flour blend to the recipe. 

I am pleased..... 😁

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Panna Cotta, an Easy, Elegant Dessert

For any who don't know, Panna Cotta is Italian for "cooked cream."  It is an Italian dessert using milk, cream, sugar and gelatin as its basic ingredients. Other flavors can be added, though the basic ingredients are more than enough to make a lovely presentation with some fresh fruit alongside. The dessert can be poured in ramekins to unmold and serve, or poured into bowls to set and serve, or into pretty stemmed glasses to serve. It is most striking and delicious served with berries, though the options certainly do not stop there.

Strawberry Lavender Panna Cotta

Of course, being me, I had to try something out of the ordinary. Meaning, I have yet to make this dessert in its simplest form. Yet. I intend to remedy that very soon. Meanwhile, I did try an experiment that was quite delicious. I made Strawberry Lavender Panna Cotta, using crushed freeze-dried strawberries, dried lavender flowers and honey. I also decided to use coconut milk instead of regular milk or cream, always with an eye to how to help if someone has allergies or aversions to dairy. This dessert has no eggs for thickening. It is naturally gluten free in its basic form. I did use honey as the sweetener, and of course another sweetener, or regular sugar can be used. 

When I decided to use coconut milk, I had a can in my pantry that was larger than usual, and used that can. I had never used that brand before, but have never had any problems with coconut milk. This one, and I did not find out until I actually tried the finished dessert, had a very strange texture. It was not smooth, like most any coconut milk brand. Hence, my panna cotta had a strange texture. There was nothing at all wrong with the flavors, however. I would most certainly make it again. With a different coconut milk.

Dried Lavender Flowers

Also, a basic panna cotta is really, truly just those 4 ingredients; milk, cream, sugar and gelatin. I decided to add in some whipped cream at the end. 

If you have never used lavender in cooking applications, it is unusual. The first time I made cookies with lavender flowers, I felt it was just too much. I have been more circumspect in the amounts used now, though I have found that if the flowers are steeped in milk first, it seems to mellow the flavor. In my recipe, I steeped the lavender flowers and the freeze-dried strawberries in the heated coconut milk and honey.

Strawberry Lavender Panna Cotta

Serves 4

1½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin (about 1/2 packet)
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup coconut milk (or regular milk)
¼ cup honey
2 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon finely crushed freeze-dried strawberries
¾ cup additional coconut milk (or regular milk)
½ cup whipping cream

In a small cup or bowl, combine the gelatin with the 2 tablespoons water. Allow to set for at least 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine the 1 cup coconut milk, honey, lavender flowers and crushed dry strawberries. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, remove from heat and allow the mixture to steep for 10 minutes. Add in the soaked gelatin and stir to completely dissolve the gelatin into the warm mixture. Strain out the lavender and larger strawberry bits and discard. To the liquid add the remaining 3/4 cup of coconut milk. Allow the mixture to cool on the counter until room temperature. Whip the cream and fold gently into the panna cotta. Have ready 4 pretty glasses, bowls or 4 - 5-ounce ramekins. If using ramekins, grease them for easier unmolding later. Pour the panna cotta evenly into the 4 containers. Set these into the refrigerator for at least 5 to 6 hours, until completely set.

To unmold, dip the bottom half of the ramekins into hot water for a minute, to soften. If necessary, run a knife around the edge to loosen. Turn over onto a plate and unmold gently. Serve alone or with fresh fruits.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Garrigue - A New Word and a New Spice Blend

I am trying to think up some appetizers for Friday; one is for a Chateauneuf du Pape (Vieux Telegraphe). In all the research while filling in those wine/food pairing sheets I made (see yesterday's blog), I came across the term “garrigue” as in a flavor or aroma and used in reference to Southern Rhone wines such as Chateauneuf or Bandol and others. We have had some bottles of Rhone called Domaine la Garrigue, Vacqueyras, but had not ever seen the word "garrigue" used as a flavor term, so I looked it up.

Turns out it is a term for the combined aromas of all the wild herbs and plants that grow in the chalky soil in that area, such as rosemary, sage, thyme, fennel, juniper, lavender, mint, lemon verbena, marjoram and others. One web site says: The reason we now hear this term in relationship to wine is that it refers to the flavorful, earthy, salty and pungent aromas and flavors often found in garrigue wines.

Garrigue Seasoning Spices

So today I got this idea. I was thinking of using a flank steak again, as it is easy to marinate and give all sorts of flavors, then broil and slice. I decided to pick from this palate of flavors and make a dry mix first, them blend that with a combination of balsamic and currants, a touch of honey and olive oil. I went shopping late this afternoon, so I just got the flank steak. I will probably wait till Thursday to open it and start the marinating. This is what I used:

Garrigue Seasoning Blend

Makes ½ cup

1½ tablespoons pink peppercorns (for their floral notes)
1 tablespoon each, dried: lavender flowers, black pepper, sage, thyme, fennel
15 juniper berries
1 tablespoon sea salt
 
All these spices went into a little spice grinder and ground fine. I will probably add in some dried lemon peel instead of lemon verbena (that I don’t have). I added the pink peppercorns to lend their floral notes, though they are not a part of the garrigue herbs. It is a pungent combination of ingredients and it smells really, REALLY good. I put the whole batch into a spice blender and made it into powder. This makes about 1/2 cup in all, so there is plenty left to use for other applications.

Meanwhile, as with everything I make now, I thought I should get some pictures of the herbs and spices, individually, and then mixed the whole batch together and took shots of the whole mélange. The pictures are so pretty I may just make this my wallpaper!
 
I am planning to marinate and broil the steak, slice it and serve it on little toasts with a couple pieces of arugula and a slice of sharp cheddar. Once I have used this and see how it goes, I will report here on the results.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Triumph and Failure, Hand in Hand

I have had a desire to make a "Tea Loaf" (like such things as Pumpkin Bread, Zucchini Bread, etc.) for a while now - using Lavender flowers. I had some cookies a few years ago with lavender flowers in them and I just didn't care for them all that much, despite the fact that I love the scent of lavender.

French Lavender Flowers

Regardless, I wanted to try this out and today just seemed to be the day. I sat down and created what appeared to be a workable recipe. There is always the chance that amounts will be off a bit; a little too runny of a batter needs a little more flour or other binding ingredient or if too thick it may need a little more liquid. As I made this recipe, the batter turned out just perfect. Most of these dessert or tea loaves have a fairly stiff batter, though still pliable enough to mix. The batter looked great and tasted heavenly, so I felt this was a huge success straight out of the mixing bowl.

I sprayed my loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray poured in the batter and baked the loaf. It rose beautifully, browned to perfection, got done all the way through. I left it in the pan to cool for 10 minutes as usual. I ran a knife around the edges. I tried to turn it out. . . . .  and the bottom stayed stuck in the pan, with the rest falling into chunks in my hand. The best laid plans, so they say. . . . .

Okay, so I have no lovely photo of this bread to put here. I did take a photo of the mess (below) of what seemed to bode so well. The flavor did stand up to my expectations; it is just perfect. The lavender flavor is there, but nicely mild. The nuts give a nice texture. The color of the bread is lovely, despite the decidedly lavender color of the milk the lavender had soaked in. I believe this recipe would also make excellent muffins.

I will be making this recipe again, very soon. I will first spray the loaf pan and then line the pan with parchment and spray it again before pouring in the batter. Hopefully this will help avoid any sticking to the pan. In the meantime, here is the recipe for this wonderfully tasty tea loaf.

Delicious, but messy Lavender Nut Tea Loaf

Lavender Nut Tea Loaf

3 tablespoons lavender flowers
¾ cup buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Heat the buttermilk gently with the lavender flowers until it just comes to boil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 20 to 30 minutes. Prepare a medium loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray or grease with butter or shortening. Cut two pieces of parchment to line the pan with a little overhang. Spray or grease the parchment.

Sift or whisk together in a small bowl the flour, baking powder, soda and salt; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the vanilla to combine.

Pour in half of the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed to combine. Add in half the milk and lavender and mix well, then add in the other half of the dry ingredients and them the wet, mixing after each addition. Add in the nuts to just distribute evenly. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake the loaf for 45 to 50 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool on a rack.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.