Desert or Dessert

Scones that word sounds mystic doesn’t it?
I have never eaten or baked a scone before so this is reason for a celebration. I achieved to do both in one day. 
I tried to find out a little about scones since they are so new to me. I found out that scones where mentioned in a publication for the first time in 1513 by a Scottish poet.
There are different views out on where the word scone itself came from. I like this version the best because I think it makes a valid point. (The Oxford dictionary believes that it comes from a word "sgonn" meaning mouthful or shapeless mass). They are a mouthful and they are rather shapeless aren’t they?
Scones are done in the Welsh tradition of cooking yeast breads on bake stones. Had I researched this prior to baking I think I might have done them on the stovetop. Just to keep the mystic going.
My research has me think that traditional scones might have been made with no leavener at all. “The American style of scone is made with the baking powder and are a quick bread. The English version usually involves a lemon curd”. That would make sense since baking powder was not discovered until 1843 yet it was mentioned over 300 years prior for the first time publicly and had been around even longer.
No matter who baked them for the first time and who made them popular in our times they are indeed something that you can put on the table when you get a last minute visitor for tea or coffee. Quick and easy, a quick bread, what can I say.
This is another recipe from Nick Malgieri and I am jumping up and down from joy because he commented on my last “The Modern Baker” post, yup he did, he did…

Real Welsh Scones (recipe found on the web @ “Intrigue of…”)
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp. cream of tartar( I did not have any so I used 1 tsp. lemon juice)
1/2 tsp. salt
8 T cold unsalted butter, diced into cubes
1 large egg
1/2 c. milk

• 
  Preheat oven to 450
  
• 
  Whisk milk and egg in a bowl and set aside
  
• 
  In a food processor, combine, flour, sugar, salt and cream of tartar.
  
• 
  Add the butter a few knobs at a time and pulse. Once all of the butter is incorporated it should have mealy dry consistency.
  
• 
  Pour the flour mix. into a large bowl and gradually pour in the milk and egg mix. Stir with a fork ( I don’t know why a fork specifically) until you have a doughy mass. Everything should incorporate completely and will have a semi-sticky consistency.
  
• 
  On a lightly floured surface knead the dough over about 3-4 times until it is relatively smooth.
  
• 
  Cut the dough in half, and form each half into disc shapes about 6 inches in diameter.
  
• 
  With a scraper knife, regular knife, or whatever you want to use, gently indent the surface of the disc so that you make wedges, but don’t cut all the way through. (I’m sure this technique has a name but I don’t know what it is or what it’s purpose is. But if it’s traditional then I’m doing it)
  
• 
  Slide each disc onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 10-15 min. until it is a dark golden color.
  

When I went shopping yesterday and browsing the produce isle what caught my eyes where these strawberries.
All winter long I have been watching to buy seasonal and regional and with the arrival of Spring we are so ready for some fresh fruits and vegetables.
I checked to see where these strawberries came from since our strawberries here are nowhere ready to be harvested. Asparagus is in full harvest mode but not strawberries.
The label told me they came from Spain (not regional for sure). I hesitated since that would mean a long haul to get here. Than I started to think about our upcoming move to El Paso.
There most things will have to be trucked in from surrounding more hospitable areas.
I went to check on Google Map to see how far it would be from my place in Bavaria near the Czech border to Barcelona, Spain and found out it’s 1493 km (about 933 miles) from our house. According to Google maps that comes out to 13.22 hours of driving time.
Next I checked how far it would be across Texas from El Paso to Texarkana and that turned out to be 811 miles or 13.32 hours driving time.
As you can see from the picture above I caved in and bought the Strawberries and turned them into this seasons first Strawberry shortcakes.
This is a dessert that’s so quick, easy and well loved in our home.
Here is the Recipe I use. It originates from the Joy of cooking which I adapted.

Shortcake Recipe

makes 6 shortcakes
2c Flour (all purpose)
2.5 tsp baking powder
  .5 tsp salt
1T sugar
1.25c heavy cream
Filling:
Strawberries (as little or as much as you like)
Sugar
Assembly
Whipped cream

Mix dry ingredients. Add the heavy cream and with a fork mix just until it all comes together (moistened).
With your hands bring it all together. Divide into 6 and shape into shortcakes (I take the cut piece and just go with my hands around it cradling it in my hands until its round).
You can brush some milk or heavy cream on top and sprinkle with some more sugar or just sprinkle with sugar like I did here.
Bake @ 450F for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Strawberries
Wash, dry and slice your strawberries. Add some sugar (depending on how sweet you like it), mix and let sit for a while. I let mine sit for at least one hour or longer. Great to make ahead. Just put in the fridge and get them out when you need them.
The sugar will bring the juices out softening the strawberries and creating a delicious “sauce” at the same time.

Assembly:
Cut open one shortcake. Top the bottom half with strawberries and whipped cream. Add the top half of the shortcake. Voila, all done!

Chocolate, Schokolade, cokolada…or however you say it in your part of the world it all means the same….a little bit of Heaven.

I have been working through the “quick bread” section of “The Modern Baker” book and when I saw this I had to make it right away. I love ‘me’ some chocolate and in a bread (or cake as we German like to call those sweet breads) it’s just as good as any other way.

This is the third recipe and this too did not leave me wanting.

It’s another great recipe. Even if it’s baked a tad to long. I checked every 5 minutes after the initial 30 and took it out at 45. That was 5 minutes to long however the bread was still very good. I will make this again for sure.

Love the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) in this bread. The ginger is a real nice addition and you can really taste it.

If you don’t own a nutmeg grinder do yourself a favor and get yourself one. They are only a few dollars (mine was about 5 Euros) and so worth it.

If you look at my egg pictures to the right you see that the yolk is quite different in size.

I get my eggs from a local farm in my small town and of course the hens don’t all lay the same size of eggs.

To get uniformed results in my baking I weigh my eggs to make sure I have the right “weight” for the large eggs required in a recipe. A large eggs weighs anywhere from 64-72g.

I also make my own brown sugar by simply adding some molasses to regular sugar. Here I did 1 tsp. I had no sour cream in the house and used quark (farmers cheese but a strained yogurt would do too) instead.

I had my doubt that this bread would rise enough to fill the pan. My pan was barely 2/3 full yet it did rise above the pan. Great tasting bread that would taste especially good with your afternoon coffee.

I will be serving this during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season.  

Recipe
The Modern Baker
page 45

This quick bread is packed with chocolate flavor. Avoid overbaking, which could dry it out. To serve, cut the bread into thin slices and accompany with preserves or marmalade. Raspberry preserves and ginger marmalade are especially good with it.
Keep the bread under a cake dome or loosely wrapped in plastic wrap if you are serving it the same day it is made. Wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to keep at room temperature for up to 4 days; wrap well and freeze for longer storage.
Makes one 8 1/2-inch loaf (12 to 16 slices)

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 1/2 cups flour (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (Dutch-process or alkalized), sifted after measuring
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup low-fat or regular sour cream

Directions:

Lightly grease an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pan with a little unsalted butter, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper cut to fit; butter the paper as well.
Position a rack in the middle level of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl or on a large piece of parchment or wax paper.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl to break them up, then whisk in both sugars. Whisk for a minute, or until the mixture lightens, then whisk in the 5 tablespoons of butter and the sour cream.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture all at once; gently whisk until smooth.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top, pushing the batter evenly into the corners. Bake on the middle oven rack for 35 to 40 minutes, until the bread has risen and a toothpick or a narrow-bladed knife inserted into the center of the bread emerges clean.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then unmold the bread and let it cool completely on the rack. When ready to serve, transfer to a cutting board.

If you are looking for me to hook you up, that’s not happening. I just say it as it is.

Though the types of Dates I’m talking about are a love connection made in Heaven too.

I first fell in love with Dates when we where living in Jeddah, KSA. My favorite time to eat Dates are when they are still green, tangy and leave a numb feeling in your mouth (see picture in the link above). Unripe not ripe that’s the way I like them.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like them ripe and sweet too and while living in the Kingdom often thought of Eve who is rumored to rest in Jeddah and the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Could it be that a simple Date is what did us all in? So sweet, so melt in the mouth like and yet so simple?

I was reminded of how much I like Dates when I picked up an Iranian box of fresh Dates at the “Slow food” Messe (Exhibition) in Stuttgart last Friday.

There is no comparison to what you might get in a Grocery store. None what so ever. These where so fresh and ripe and sweet and ….(I could just go on and on) that it was a little bit of Heaven right here on Earth.

When I found this little treasure at the Exhibition I was so excited. I had just received my copy of The Modern Baker Thursday night and while flipping through the book The Date Walnut Bread on page 47 caught my eye. I knew that this was one of the first recipes out of this book that I wanted to make.

Now I had the main star in my hands and not even the missing Walnuts could stand between this woman and her Date Walnut Hazelnut Bread.

This is the second recipe that I baked from the Quick Bread section of “The Modern Baker” book.

To find out how others like this bread and others from “The Modern Baker” book you can read all about it here.

I will not post the recipe here since I will be blogging about all the recipes in the book over the next year or so and it would not be fair to the author to have all the recipes online in one place. However this recipe is very close to the one in the book.

This is the second recipe I baked from this book and I must say I am very much looking forward to the next recipe. Both this and the Cocoa Banana Muffins (Cupcake) are excellent and well worth alone getting the book.

Date Hazelnut Bread
The Modern Baker
Page 47

This bread came together very quick. That is if you forget about the hour long wait to soak the Dates in some Water and a bit of Butter.

By the time the hour was over my Dates had nearly disappeared.  I was left with pretty much a thick syrup. 

What surprised me with this recipe is how “friendly” this recipe actually is.

Only 1T of Butter (that’s all the fat that’s added), no milk just water, 2 eggs and 1.5 c sugar in addition to the dates (a lot), nuts and the dry ingredients. Not bad at all for a sweet treat.

The little snag I talked about earlier is that I had no Walnuts in the house but I always have Hazelnut here. Therefore I used Hazelnut and about 1/4 c of Almonds instead of the Walnut.

I am not a big fan of Vanilla flavor so I used real Vanilla and 1 tsp. of Rum instead.

 
                              
                               As for the taste? Can you say Y.U.M?

Hello, my name is Petra and I am an addict, a cookbook addict to be exact.
Especially baking books are dear to my heart and I enjoy adding them to my growing collection.

I might need an intervention in the future but until then I will happily find new reasons to expand my collection.

I would say the new baking challenge: “The modern Baker”  hosted by Phil would count as a good enough reason.

Yup, I thought you might agree so I went ahead and ordered the book from Big Dog Trading company. It was under ten dollars and even with shipping still $10 less than with Amazon direct. I sure love a bargain as much as I love cook books.

The only downside on ordering with affiliates of Amazon is the fact that most of them ship surface which means it takes weeks for it to get to me here in Germany (APO address). Amazon on the other side only takes about a week.

My book did not arrive in time for the challenge to start the beginning of April. That does not really matter though since the first part of the challenge (Quick Breads) will be stretched over 3 month so there is time to make all 15 by the end of June.

Since we will be leaving Germany this summer I will attempt to get the “Quick Breads” done by the end of May when our Household goods will be shipped out.
The First bread I choose actually chose itself.

A glance to my banana bowl showed the need for quick action.

Since I will be baking through the entire book during this challenge I will not post any recipes out of this book as a courtesy to the author unless I find them on the internet. With this one you are in luck. The author himself posted it here.

Looking through the book I found many recipes I am excited about trying so I feel the $10 are well worth the price.

If you are unsure or if money is tight see if your local library has a copy, can order a copy from another branch or even purchase a copy for your branch. Happy Baking!

Cocoa Banana Muffins
page 60  The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri

http://food.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977502905
Makes 16 standard muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
2/3 cup alkalized (Dutch process) cocoa powder, sifted after measuring
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork to make 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup sour cream
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs
Two 12-cavity muffin pans with 8 paper liners in each

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir well to mix.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the mashed bananas and sour cream; set aside.
4. Combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and place on mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about a minute, or until well mixed and a little lightened in color.
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each addition.
6. Decrease the mixer speed to low and beat in half the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and beater.
7. On low speed, beat in the banana mixture. After the batter has absorbed the banana mixture, beat in the remaining flour mixture.
8. Stop and scrape down the bowl and beater again.
9. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the batter.
10. Divide the batter equally among the paper-lined cavities in the muffin pans.
11. Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes, or until they are well risen and feel firm to the touch. Because this is such a liquid batter, test a muffin with a toothpick or the point if a thin-bladed knife – it should emerge with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
12. Cool the muffins in the pan on a rack.

  

With 3 Bananas and 2/3c Dutch processed cocoa powder in this recipe I knew I would be in for a great treat. My worries that this might be to sweet (1 1/2 c sugar) where swept away with the first bite. Yum, is what I was thinking as I devoured it.