SCONES REVISITED

It's been over 4 years since I started this blog, and as I warned you, my recipes keep evolving.  I've been distracted by a variety of things, a couple of moves, another blog...so I haven't been too faithful in recent months, even years.  But as I was making orange-chocolate scones today, I went back to the recipe in this blog and realized that I have made enough changes to justify a re-do.  

Here's what's different:  I've fully switched over to weighing rather than measuring dry ingredients.  It's easier because you can pour everything into one bowl, and it's much more accurate.  I've increased the amount of buttermilk slightly because it was so difficult to get all of the flour incorporated, but you do have to move quickly so they don't start getting cake-y.  I also increased the temperature from 375 to 400 degrees F, mainly because that's what works in my new oven.  And in the summer, when the air temperature is warm (and in Pittsburgh, humid), I freeze the scones for 20 minutes before baking.

A word on my new oven.  As you'll recall, I finally had everything in my kitchen in State College exactly the way I wanted.  I replaced my loathed GE ovens with Wolf, and had many years of reliable baking (even though they had to replace the internal computer thingy).  I had double wall ovens, which were great, unless you wanted to cook something really big, like a turkey, which I rarely did.

But life evolves, and in 2018 we decided to move from State College to Pittsburgh to be near our grandchildren.  We weren't sure how long we'd be there, so we rented an apartment for a year in Squirrel Hill (a move you will have read about if you read my other blog on Aging).  In the rental, there was an incredibly cheap Whirlpool gas stove.  While the apartment was probably very nice for most people, it was small and frustrating for me.  The oven was not particularly consistent, the stove top was small and inconvenient, and there wasn't enough prep or storage space for me.  So I cooked and especially baked, less and less.  Then, this Spring, we happened upon a townhouse in a nearby neighborhood that had the two most important things for me:  a kitchen with decent storage capacity and top of the line appliances.  The unit was only one year old, and the owners had splurged because they thought they'd be here for a long time. The husband was a cook, and he put in a six-burner Blue Star range.  I had read about Blue Star, and knew that restaurant cooks love them.  

We've been in the townhome for about a month, and I'm beginning to learn where I put everything I need to cook with.  And I love, love, love the Blue Star range.  The burners are huge, and the cradles can be removed to cook directly on the burner for wok stir-fries.  There is also a griddle and grill that can replace two of the burners, and a huge, industrial-strength fan to carry away the smoke before the smoke alarm and sprinklers go off.  (In the apartment I was continually setting off the smoke alarms, causing our neighbors to worry that we were burning the place down.)  And the oven, ah, the oven.  It is huge!  It can fit as many cake pans as I want, along with full-sheet baking pans.  And it's unbelievably consistent.  What I also love about it is that there are really no electronics blinking at you, just old fashioned knobs.  Apparently the company made restaurant ovens for many years and only recently got into the home market. And they're manufactured in the Lehigh Valley near Philadelphia.  So now I'm wanting to bake again, which makes Steve and the grandkids very happy.

So here's how I made these scones today:

Orange-Jammy bits and Chocolate Chip Scones  

1 cup AP flour (140g)

1 cup cake flour (140g)

1/4 cup superfine sugar (50g)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (if you have an orange) 

1/2 cup (4 oz) butter, frozen at least 30 minutes

5/8 cup shaken buttermilk, (5 oz) room temperature
1/2 teaspoon orange oil (if you have the zest) or 1 teaspoon if you don't
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup King Arthur orange jammy bits

3 Tablespoons superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (Penzey's Vietnamese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place a piece of parchment paper in a half sheet baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, and orange zest (if using).  Using a large microplane grater, grate the butter over the dry ingredients, mixing occasionally with a fork. Add orange oil to the buttermilk, pouring it into a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture, and stir until the dough holds together.  Add chocolate chips and orange jammy bits.  

Turn the dough out onto the parchment paper (saves on the cleanup), and knead just until you can shape it into a thick disk, about 7" in diameter.  Using a bench knife or other sharp knife, cut the circle into 8 pieces, and separate them from one another so they don't get too cozy during baking. After you have found a home for them on the pan, flatten them a little with the palm of your hand.  Mix cinnamon into sugar and sprinkle over the tops.  If it's warm in your house, place the baking pan with the scones in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Bake 14-16 minutes.