How to make food, How to make desserts soar— vanilla scones
All scrumptious fare affords pleasure! This is particularly true of a scone with clotted cream, which has been heralded as one of the many time- honored traditions of our friends from across the pond. This delicate confection relies on cold butter for its flakiness whereas most recipes of the American biscuit relies more on vegetable shortening for a crumbly texture. I do not bake with vegetable shortening, however, I do love crumbly textures and achieve this by adding cream cheese, whenever a recipe calls for vegetable shortening. Whatever, the origin or paradigm of this convivial fare, it is also enjoyed by many all over the world, including my Malaysian elders in South Africa. My mother almost always reverted to preparing it for unexpected company, so without further ado, here is my spin on her recipe.
Scones
These scones were delicate, flaky & even crumbly, accompanied by a mascarpone mousse, ( tasted almost like French vanilla ice cream). I also made my strawberry & raspberry preserves from scratch with vanilla beans etc…. These all went to my chiropractor & all the lovely ladies who work at the wellness center at “Arne Chiropractic.” Their remarks….ridiculously decadent!
Tahitian vanilla powder & a little of the white vanilla powder, sifted with the flours, is my little spin on this airy scone! Some of the vanilla powder will be left in the sieve, just dump into the bowl with the rest of the flours
As you can see, lavish amounts of whole sun ripened strawberries & raspberries, not sweet at all, no pectin or sugar needed in my preserves, it’s all about the fruit, & some surprising ingredients !
I ask this frivolous & not in the least condescending question with the utmost respect of all the ladies out there……Is a woman’s worth really measured by her ability of making a good biscuit? The reason for my question is that I have recently discovered the “Little house on the Prairie” series & now receiving all the episodes from Netflix. Anyway, there is one episode whereby Carolyn Ingalls is put to the test by making biscuits for a possible position as a cook in a hotel, & ultimately she does land the job for making the best biscuits ever! The former cook who was just lousy at cooking was kicked out! Hey, during the late 1800’s, if a woman could make a good biscuit and a good pot of stew with potatoes, she was pretty much spoken for! I am transfixed by this era portrayed so beautifully by Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, & the rest of the cast, an American Western drama, I just cannot wait to watch nightly with my husband!
I wonder whether my scones would have landed me an amorous encounter with Mr. Charles Ingalls himself, that is only if my husband was not yet in my life LOL! I hope he does not read this!
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Publication
This fruit fondant Madeira cake, that I developed here, is featured in this British magazine below, the Fall issue #114 on page 114. Originally, I contacted them to thank them for the safe arrival of my package with the delectable fruit fondant powders, I purchased from them and much to my delight, they emailed me, asking for a head shot of myself & the pictures of this cake and publishing my little article in the ” forum” section on pg 114-115. Anyway, this cake was indescribably delicious, this fruit fondant powder turns into a rich fruit coolie when mixed with water!
This magazine is sold at Barnes & Noble.
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Colorado
Red Rocks Park is a mountain park in Morrison, Colorado & only 10 minutes drive from my home. I often go here, either to run up & down the many steps, go and day dream & most importantly, see my favorite rock bands!. I finally decided to take some pictures last week, while there was no scheduled concert, & share them with you!
I am never without my I Pod, & many of you already know that I love vocal trance. I do love rock too! S..t!**!! this is one run where I really need my IPod, because these steps are forever kicking my big b…..!Anything to detract from the pain will keep my booody moving.
Orjan Nielsen ft Arielle Maren–Redemption
Svenstrup & Vendelboe-Nadia malm…….Danish stars, cool euphoric vocal trance
Medina- Gutter—a Svenstrup & Vendelboe remix….I mentioned her before in my last post, but this is also an awesome remix!
David Guetta ft Usher–without you ( okay, this is no vocal trance, but I still like it)
Red Rocks is my escape from this more often than not frenetic world!
Red Rocks Amphitheater, a world famous venue, hosts many concerts, “Film on the Rocks” ( I love watching movies in the open air), & other events during the summer. I think it seats about 10,000, most probably more! I went to see Santana & the rock bands, Godsmack & Nine Inch Nails, over here. Picture this, after the concerts, confetti cannons shooting blizzards of confetti shapes from above….pure artistry in motion! It turns serious adults into awestruck children & sends children into giddy glee!
Takes us a mere 10 mins drive to Red Rocks mountain park!
Recipes
Flaky vanilla scones with mascarpone mousse & preserves
As usual, please use organic ingredients when possible, however, I used the King Arthur flours here.
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup self rising flour
- 3 t “Bob’s Red Mill” double acting baking powder( Aluminum free)
- 1/2 t Tahitian vanilla powder plus 1 t of the white vanilla powder, just because I have both, ( optional but not for me! he!he!), Or use whatever one you prefer!…. the Tahitian vanilla powder is finely ground vanilla beans, mine was hardly noticeable in my pictures, because they were dispersed throughout the dough. Trust me when I say that it is potent, but oh so darn delicious!
- 3 – 4 T organic sugar, I used 3!
- 6 T cold Plugra ( European, unsalted butter), or any other kind you prefer. I love the richer & creamier taste of Plugra!
- 1/2 cup of currants
- 2/3 cup organic milk
- egg yolk beaten lightly for the glaze
Method
Sift all the flours & the Tahitian & the white vanilla powders together, twice. Some of the Tahitian vanilla powder will be left in the sieve, just dump back into the bowl with the flours. Remove about a quarter cup of this flour mixture & toss with the currants & set aside, (the reason for this step, so that the currants will not sink to the bottom, but will be evenly distributed throughout the dough). Add the sugar to the flour mixture & mix with a biscuit cutter. Now cut the cold butter into smaller pieces and cut into the flour mixture with the biscuit cutter. Do me a favor, do not over mix here! It is okay if there are bigger pieces of butter showing! Make a well in the center, add the currants & then the cold milk and mix just until incorporated, absolutely no over mixing here either! Always let any dough rest, here for 10 mins. Finally roll out the dough to about 3/4 inch on a lightly floured surface, stamp out 2 inch heart shape designs, ( please just press firmly down on cutter, no twisting), NB…flip the scones over, so that the bottom of the scone is now on top & then place on the cookie sheet, about an inch apart, (the cold butter specks will now be on the top & they will rise evenly), brush with the egg yolk & then let rest again for 12 minutes. N.B. do not let the egg yolk glaze drip over the sides of the scone, this will prohibit the scone from rising! Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. You will really smell the vanilla aroma when these babies are done! Makes about 9 scones.
Mascarpone mousse
Whisk some mascarpone @ rm temp. with cold Horizon, organic whipping cream & some of the white vanilla powder. Set the bowl over ice when whisking! Serve the scones with a dollop of this mousse & preserves of your liking.
Thanks for your visit, enjoy my version of the scone!
Lots of love,
Nazarina.
P/S…..It is so strange, I make these scones only when we have guests staying over or sometimes for my friend’s B&B, but have never blogged about it before. I did not think that the recipe would be important enough to share until now!
The Plugra & the vanilla powder definitely brought some major mojo to this scone party!
Telluride is a little bit quirky, a little bit playful, a “lotta” liberal & a “lotta” expensive…hey! whatever floats your boat, that’s what I always say!
Okay! I thought this was rather strange…as we were driving down main street, a bevy of cheery folk suddenly appeared . Apparently, it is customary for the wedding party to parade down Main street, even with all that soft pouring rain!
One morning, very early, I jumped onto the gondola in my PJ’s to go to the market to buy almond milk. The B&B provides everything except milk for the lactose intolerant. On the way I was joined by a guy and his little boy & he very “candidly” remarked that he thought my fuzzy slippers were “cool” I knew that he was trying to make small talk because really my slippers were not in the least cool!
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This place reminds me somewhat of Cape town, where I was born. This quaint little town is nestled between the 2 mountain ranges.
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My husband hung out here watching his beloved, Miami Dolphins lose!
Thank you for riding along with me. Hope you enjoyed this trip as much as we did!
Hope you are all keeping your cool!
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