SCONES WITHOUT SALT AND SUGAR
Lusty kind of bread for tea time and more
By now you will have understood it, I am constantly attracted to recipes from the world. I like to elaborate and propose them in the Vallì’s way. When I travel, I always let myself be inspired by the typical dishes of the places I visit, I observe them, I get informed, I taste them and then I go home and start experimenting… and the same thing happened to the scones.
Scones are a kind of fast rising bread, thanks to the use of Baking Powder (a leavening agent), with a frangrante consistency and a lusty taste due to fermented buttermilk. (If you missed the recipe of how to get buttermilk you can find it here if instead you want to know how then to get the fermented buttermilk that you will need for this recipe you can find it here).
Their origins are assumed to be Anglo-Saxon and date back to around 1500 in Scotland. They are said to have become popular thanks to the Duchess of Bedford, Anna, who would have asked for tea with treats and scones one afternoon. It was so tasty and good that she asked to have served this every afternoon. From there began the most fashionable ritual of the English tradition, afternoon tea which is still served today with sweets and scones accompanied by clotted cream and jam.
Traditionally, scones can be either slightly sweet or slightly salty, smooth or with raisins or chocolate. Their most common shape is the round one but it is also possible to find them in a triangular shape. Today I want to share with you my passepartout recipe that is perfectly suited to any type of sweet or savoury situation.
Ready to get your hands on the dough?!
Let’s start with the procedure step by step and at the bottom, as usual, you will find the summary card with all the doses, ingredients, tools etc that you can always keep with you. Remember to Let me know what your reaction has been after tasting them. I can’t do without them anymore…
METHOD
We heat the oven to 200°C (392°F). In a bowl we combine flour, butter, fermented buttermilk, liquid buttermilk and baking powder paying attention to crumble everything with our hands and knead everything quickly without working too much the dough.
On a floured working surface we overturn the dough and model it in the shape of a rectangle.
The dough must remain crumbly and not smooth. The uglier it looks, the more perfect our scones will be.
We fold the dough into 3. We take one side and superimpose it on the dough for a third and consequently we take the other free side and we also close it on the dough.
Turn the dough horizontally, flatten it gently with our hands and fold it again into 3.
Folding into 3 is like when we fold a sheet of paper that has to be wrapped in a commercial envelope.
We rotate the dough again horizontally and repeat the previous operation… flatten the dough and fold it into 3 for the last time.
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With the help of a rolling pin we roll out the dough until it has reached approximately 2.50cm (1in). Let’s take a cookie cutter with a circular wave shape, 6.5cm (2.5in) in diameter e form our scones.
ATTENTION: if you want to create other circular scones with redundant dough, do not mix them again! Do, as you do with puff pastry, comb one piece on top of the other and roll it out with a rolling pin. Otherwise you can cut them into small pieces so you’ll have small bites.
We put the scones next to each other on a baking tray lined with baking paper, brush the surface with liquid buttermilk (it is not mandatory) and bake for 15min or until the surface is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let them cool a lil bit. The scones give their best if served and eaten lukewarm on the same day they are prepared. It is possible to keep them 1/2 days in a bag or better if put them in the freezer and defrost them out when it’s needed.
The moment we place the scones on the baking tray, contrary to what we can usually think, it’s VERY IMPORTANT that they touch each other. This secret will allow them to rise in a better way.
You can aserve them with freshly made butter and sugar-free jam or the clotted cream or lemon curd. They can also be combined with savoury flavours with mascarpone and fresh salmon slices, homemade salt-free ricotta cheese and whoever has more. You can serve them for breakfast, for the brunch or for any occasion that needs a special snack.
THE VALLÌ’S COOKING FAMILY
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