Scones are such an admired délice anglais I had to have them in this week’s issue. This gorgeous recipe is a rather international take on the theme since I adapted it from a recipe given to me by the wonderful Chicago-based Swedish Bakery, which made the meanest scones I ever bought. Be prepared to knead and thread, have flour up in your nostrils and your hair and feel like the absolute baker.
My truly delicious almond and chocolate chip scones
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Recipe by: scone recipe from The Swedish bakery, Chicago, US Busy:30 min, Total prep time: 45 min Serves: Makes 16 scones |
Preheat oven to 220C
Cut the chocolate into small chunks of about the size of a 1p coin
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Chop the soft butter in small pieces and mix with the flour until reaching a texture that looks like ground almonds. I do this by sifting the flour and butter through the palms of my hands and fingers, but you can also use a blender.
Add one egg and about 9 cl of the milk to the mixture. Stir quickly and lightly with a wooden spoon until no dry mixture shows (do the absolute minimum of stirring otherwise the dough will not raise as well). Only add the rest of the milk if not all the mixture has been wet. The dough should be soft, possibly a bit sticky but not too wet and hold itself into a ball.
Place the dough onto a floured surface and press it down with the palms of your hands to a flat rectangle of about 1 inch thick, the larger side laying horizontally in front of you.
Sprinkle some of the chocolate and ground almonds on top of the rectangle.
Divide mentally the rectangle into three smaller ones sitting side by side, and fold the external flaps onto the middle one so that they all lay on top of each other.
Check the surface under the dough and sprinkle a bit more flour if necessary to prevent it from sticking
Turn the dough by a quarter of a turn
Press it again into a rectangle laying in the same direction as before. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle a bit of flour on top before pressing. Sprinkle more chocolate and almonds, and repeat the folding.
Repeat this operation about 10-12 times altogether
Cut the dough in half, and form each half into a ball
Press each ball down with your hands into a disk of about 1 inch thick
Cut each disk into 8 slices like a pie
Lay a sheet of baking paper on an oven tray and grease it with a bit of butter
Place the scones on the paper, leaving at least 1/2 in between each of them
Brush the tops with a lightly beaten egg.
Bake until deep golden, for about 12 minutes
Leave the butter to soften at room temperature for one hour or soften in the microwave on very low power for 30 sec.
Preheat oven to 220C
Cut the chocolate into small chunks of about the size of a 1p coin
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Chop the soft butter in small pieces and mix with the flour until reaching a texture that looks like ground almonds. I do this by sifting the flour and butter through the palms of my hands and fingers, but you can also use a blender.
Add one egg and about 9 cl of the milk to the mixture. Stir quickly and lightly with a wooden spoon until no dry mixture shows (do the absolute minimum of stirring otherwise the dough will not raise as well). Only add the rest of the milk if not all the mixture has been wet. The dough should be soft, possibly a bit sticky but not too wet and hold itself into a ball.
Place the dough onto a floured surface and press it down with the palms of your hands to a flat rectangle of about 1 inch thick, the larger side laying horizontally in front of you.
Sprinkle some of the chocolate and ground almonds on top of the rectangle.
Divide mentally the rectangle into three smaller ones sitting side by side, and fold the external flaps onto the middle one so that they all lay on top of each other.
Check the surface under the dough and sprinkle a bit more flour if necessary to prevent it from sticking
Turn the dough by a quarter of a turn
Press it again into a rectangle laying in the same direction as before. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle a bit of flour on top before pressing. Sprinkle more chocolate and almonds, and repeat the folding.
Repeat this operation about 10-12 times altogether
Cut the dough in half, and form each half into a ball
Press each ball down with your hands into a disk of about 1 inch thick
Cut each disk into 8 slices like a pie
Lay a sheet of baking paper on an oven tray and grease it with a bit of butter
Place the scones on the paper, leaving at least 1/2 in between each of them
Brush the tops with a lightly beaten egg.
Bake until deep golden, for about 12 minutes
I bake these scones wth many different fillings. Try raisins and walnuts, for instance, or bluberries and oat for breakfast. Whenever using frutis, always freeze them beforehand, This will allow you to incorporate them into the batter without crushing them. Only insert them in the last 2-3 folding rounds as they would not resist being kneaded 15 times. Last, because the dough can be a bit sticky, I would advise keeping a clean tea towel tucked into your waist while working on it in order to be able to wipe your hands easily when needed.
Ingredients
150g dark chocolate at 70% cocoa
250g flour + flour to spread on kneading surface
80g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch of salt
75 g butter + butter to grease baking paper
2 eggs
10 cl milk
80g ground almonds, or half ground, half flaked
150g dark chocolate at 70% cocoa
250g flour + flour to spread on kneading surface
80g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch of salt
75 g butter + butter to grease baking paper
2 eggs
10 cl milk
80g ground almonds, or half ground, half flaked
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