First time I had scones in my life was during my first summer English camp in London when I was 13. That was love at first bite. Although there are many types of scones, filled with jam, cream, chocolate chips, dry fruits and nuts, my favorite ones are the simple cream scones, that I fill up with butter and strawberry jam.
This small cake is kind of a quick bread, similar to an American biscuit, made of wheat flour (white or wholemeal), sugar, baking powder/baking soda, butter, milk (whole, half and half, light cream, heavy cream, buttermilk, yogurt, etc.), and eggs. This produces a soft and sticky dough that needs to be baked in a moderate to hot oven so the dough sets quickly thereby producing a light scone with a light to golden brown floury top and bottom with white sides. The texture of the interior of the scone should be light and soft, and white in color. The secret of making flaky scones is to NOT OVER MIX the dough, which is why it is better to knead it by hands instead of using an electric mixer.
Today, together with the traditional and simply delicious cream scones, I also show you an Asian version that Starbucks sells here in Shanghai.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup (76 grams) cold unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 1/4 cup red bean paste
Egg wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together with the butter cut into small pieces.
Blend the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs
Combine the whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla
Pour it into the flour mixture
Stir until just combined. Do not over mix!!!
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead gently four or five times and then divide the dough in half. Roll half of the dough into a rectangular about 1/2 cm thick.
Divide it in half and spread the red bean paste on half
Then cover it with the second half. Cut it into triangles.
Make an egg wash with one egg and 1 tbsp of heavy cream. Brush it on tops of the scones. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking
Bake for about 15 min or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven, turn your broiler on high and sift confectioner sugar heavily on tops of scones and place them under the broiler. Broil for just a few second until sugar has melted and turn golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool down. When cooled, sprinkle more powdered sugar on top
Your red bean pasta scones are ready!
For the classic cream scones instead, take the second half of the dough and roll it into a 5 inch circle, about 1 cm or 1.5 cm thick
With a cookie cutter, cut out circles. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Brush the tops of scones with the egg wash
and bake them for about 15- 18 min or until lightly golden in color. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack
Then sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar
And there you have plenty of traditional scones and exotic Asian ones!
Love
– LittleDani
