Feeling a bit experimental, I wanted to try making scones. My baking experience is limited to the wonderful white cake I made for easter (and yes, it was wonderful). So, I turned to my personal search assistant – Google – for a Chocolate Chip Scone recipe. Enter this bit from The Joy of Baking.
Not trying to be negative here but the experience well less than joyful.
The Prep
Following ever step listed in the recipe I thought things were going well until I look down at my dough and realize I have a overly wet, overly sticky ball of what should be scone dough. It was almost as if there was too much milk and not enough flour.
My initial reaction was to add more flour but I resisted, thinking to myself “Ok, just follow the recipe”. I ball up, knead the dough twice, and cut the product into triangles and get ready for some baking.
15 to 20 minutes later the scones are done.
The Scones
ACK.
During the prep the dough appeared to be too moist; however, the actual scones tasted as if there was too much flour added – they tasted doughy. I thought, maybe, this was due to the fact that I was tasting the scones shortly after they came out of the oven so I decided to wait until the next morning and give them another try.
Yea, the ACK principle still applied for me.
I’m not sure what the issue was with this experiment. Was it the recipe? Was it the prep? Was it some unknown variable?
While I’m disappointed with the outcome I will be giving it another try in the near future. Oh, and yes, I did have pictures of the scones (they looked good, trust me) but I have misplaced my camera. Maybe someone with some more experince can suggest some tips for future scone experiments.
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#1 by monicajane - August 25th, 2009 at 16:37
with a scone the dough should be very very dry and if they were gooey it’s not surprising that they were doughy…
I don’t know much about baking either, but I have made scones a few times successfully…once for my British in-laws!! that was scary!! they liked them though…
anyway, I like to just have fun in the kitchen…the more adventurous you are the more likely you’ll have flops from time to time…
good for trying!
#2 by Wandering Coyote - August 25th, 2009 at 19:01
Hmmm…Scones are deceptive and do require some experience. They are something you literally need a feel for. Some scone doughs are wetter than others. However, what you describe sounds too wet. Baking is an odd thing: moisture in the air, differences in ingredients from the recipe, all kinds of factors come into play.
If you have a wet dough that you don’t feel you can roll out or at least pat out decently, one thing you can do is scoop them out with a scooper. I did this as a baker at one place I worked at and they were fine. That was a wetter dough, too, but it was also a time consideration. If your dough is wetter, you might want to bake the scones at a slightly higher temperature so they get some extra poof from the heat.
But in general, if you feel your dough is too wet, by all means add more flour until the dough isn’t sticky anymore. You don’t want sticky. But you also don’t want such a stiff, dry dough that will give you a hard, dense scone. This is where experience & feel come into play.
#3 by Bob - August 25th, 2009 at 21:01
Ah good, there are people who can help. I can’t, I don’t know anything about scones. Heh. They’re on the List, but there are tons of things on it.
#4 by Van Santos - August 26th, 2009 at 23:20
@monicajane
You are right, it’s about having fun in the kitchen. So it wasn’t the best, big deal! I enjoyed and will be giving it another try.
@Wandering Coyote
Yea, apparently experience I didn’t have! Going through your list of things (variables) I noted that the evening I had made the scones it was very – VERY – humid. I wonder if that played into it in any way.
My fear about adding flour to the mix was that the scones would end up tasting too much like flour… the irony being that the scones ended up tasting that way regardless of how much I added. Weird.
Do you happen to have any good recipes I could give a try?
@Bob
We are lucky to have a number of people who are quite good with baking, so that is a plus for us. Time for us to learn from their wisdom and experience.
#5 by Wandering Coyote - August 26th, 2009 at 23:44
I’ll post a recipe with instructions in the next few days.
#6 by Van Santos - August 26th, 2009 at 23:50
Rock on!