A Gross of Scones
Aug. 23rd, 2010 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
patinagle16Bubonicon approaches, and I'm gearing up for the Authors Tea. I'm making scones again. Currant scones this time.
Last year I made 20 dozen scones, and there were leftovers. This year I've decided to make a gross of scones (144). Since I get about 3 dozen per batch, that will be four batches.
I have made some scones throughout the year and have learned a couple of tricks to keep them from flopping over. One is to press down on each scone with the heel of the hand after cutting it. Another is to cut straight down, no twisting.
I also picked up on a trick from America's Test Kitchen: freeze the butter, then grate it, then freeze it again before adding it to the dry ingredients. I haven't decided yet if this is worth the effort. It involves a fair amount of cleanup - one food processor and all its bits, very buttery. But it also cuts out the tedium of cutting the butter into the dough. And the cleanup can be mitigated by grating more than one stick of butter at once, and freezing them in separate containers. I think I'll try both ways this week.
First batch this morning. Frozen butter.
Irregularities: The sugar went "bloop" so I didn't have an accurate sugar measure. And I forgot to add the currants! I do that a lot - they're sitting right there, but I guess I'm worrying about the consistency of the dough and not overkneading, and I forget.
I pressed the currants into the top of the rolled-out dough before cutting. I think they'll be fine.
I cut scones for the tea only from the first and second rollout. Usually that comes to right around three dozen. After that, I mush the scraps together and get a few more - which are MINE! ALL MINE!
Tea and scones for breakfast. Ahhh.
Last year I made 20 dozen scones, and there were leftovers. This year I've decided to make a gross of scones (144). Since I get about 3 dozen per batch, that will be four batches.
I have made some scones throughout the year and have learned a couple of tricks to keep them from flopping over. One is to press down on each scone with the heel of the hand after cutting it. Another is to cut straight down, no twisting.
I also picked up on a trick from America's Test Kitchen: freeze the butter, then grate it, then freeze it again before adding it to the dry ingredients. I haven't decided yet if this is worth the effort. It involves a fair amount of cleanup - one food processor and all its bits, very buttery. But it also cuts out the tedium of cutting the butter into the dough. And the cleanup can be mitigated by grating more than one stick of butter at once, and freezing them in separate containers. I think I'll try both ways this week.
First batch this morning. Frozen butter.
Irregularities: The sugar went "bloop" so I didn't have an accurate sugar measure. And I forgot to add the currants! I do that a lot - they're sitting right there, but I guess I'm worrying about the consistency of the dough and not overkneading, and I forget.
I pressed the currants into the top of the rolled-out dough before cutting. I think they'll be fine.
I cut scones for the tea only from the first and second rollout. Usually that comes to right around three dozen. After that, I mush the scraps together and get a few more - which are MINE! ALL MINE!
Tea and scones for breakfast. Ahhh.
