TWD: Catch-Up! Chocolate Pots de Creme & Toasted Almond Scones

Since we have basically all been a bunch of germ magnets for the past two weeks (some longer than that!) I am playing a major game of catch-up around home and in life.  I've actually made the past 3 or 4 Tuesdays with Dorie recipes and never had a chance to photograph and/or post them. Oy!

I am not much of a pudding fan. However, if you put something in front of me that I know used really good ingredients, I won't say no. I also really like the texture of baked custards, which is basically what these Chocolate Pots de Creme seemed like to me. I finagled the recipe to only make a half-batch and ended up with 4 cups total - which was a good thing because I'm pretty sure I would have ended up eating the entire full batch and not sharing. 

There are only three cups pictured because I ate one last night before chilling the pots - I wanted to try both the room temperature texture and the chilled texture. Although it was really good at room temperature, I'm inclined to agree with Dorie that the texture and taste is much better when chilled thoroughly. 

It doesn't hurt if you add some whipped cream and shaved chocolate either. Just sayin'.

Aidan (my 7YO) ate one of these today and I think he summed up what we thought of these the best. 

Direct quote: "If I was wearing socks right now, this would knock them off." 

Ah, kids! ")

As for these bad boys from last week, I've actually made them several times in the past few years. They were one of the first recipes I tried in the book and they are a definite favorite of ours. I accidentally overbaked them just a little this time so they were a tad dryer than normal, but it really didn't matter. We love these Toasted Almond Scones.

The Chocolate Pots de Creme were chosen as this week's recipe by Christine of Black Cat Cooking.

The Toasted Almond Scones finally saw their day in the sun thanks to Mike of LivingOutWest.

My thanks to you both for great choices that really hit the spot!

For many more links to all the other Tuesdays with Dorie bloggers who made these recipes you can visit their respective LYL posts here and here.

Once I get life just a bit more under control and can avoid spending the entire week at hospitals, doctors, InstaCare and assorted pharmacies I will sit down and actually write some posts to go with the plethora of drafts sitting in my files. 

In the mean time, I hope you are all having an absolutely fantabulous start to March!

Chocolate Chunk Scones

Where oh where have I been.  I can't believe it has been so long since I updated here and frankly, I'm fairly disgusted with myself.  I had so many great ideas and such a flurry of energy going too.  Then, just ppppbbbbllltttt - nothin' - bad day turned into bad week and so on.  Sorry!!

I have no good reason since it's just the way my life is and it's really nothing new.  I just had a funk I guess, and a bit of angst and self-pity followed by a healthy dose of self-loathing for the pity party.  Lame.

I think that is the key problem right there though.  No free time and a complete lack of motivation with myself.  Do you ever just have those times where life gets so overwhelming that you just want to shut it all down and give up on even trying?  Yeah. I told you it was a real pity party.  I didn't feel like sharing my lousy attitude at the time, but I feel like I'm starting to rebound so now I'm back!

Anyway, I don't really mean to bore you with all the details here about kids and school and work and life and doctors appointments and colds and sick kids and stress and blah blah blah, because, frankly, I'm tired of it all and that's what I come here to try to get away from.

What I DO want to share with you is this recipe for Chocolate Chunk Scones - a surefire way to help yank yourself out of pity party doldrums.  Besides, I'm sincerely hoping that, like me, you can be bribed into forgiveness.  I brought chocolate after all. Heavens knows it works on me! ;)

Slather a little cherry or raspberry jam on your scone for an extra little treat!

I made these scones a while back and they were so heavenly.  Light, fluffy, chocolatey, not too sweet and so melt-in-your-mouth tender - just like a good scone should be as far as I'm concerned.

I upped the ante with my scones by using really good bittersweet chocolate chunks.  The sugar topping was an additional super fun component too though.  I had some Swedish Pearl Sugar I picked up a while back and have been hoarding a bit.  It was so fun to use and the kiddos got a real kick out of it.  They thought it looked like little snowballs on top of the scones.

As far as I'm concerned, baked treats are good all of the time, but there's just something about the Fall weather that really makes me want to have something warm from the oven for breakfast.  These chocolate chunk scones definitely fit the bill!

Chocolate Chunk Scone Recipe

Adapted from the King Arthur Flour website

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla

9 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks

sugar pearls or raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line or lightly grease a baking sheet.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.  Add the butter pieces and using your fingertips or a pastry cutter blend the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.

In another bowl whisk together heavy cream, eggs, and vanilla.  Set aside 2 tablespoons of the mixture to use as a wash on the outside of the scones before baking.  Add the rest of the cream-egg-vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients along with the chocolate chunks.  Toss together with your hands or a fork to mix and form a moist dough.

Transfer the sticky dough to a well floured rolling mat or other work surface.  Gently pat and round the dough into a 7-inch circle.  Cut the circle into 8 equal triangle portions using a sharp knife.  Use a spatula to place the scones onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between triangles on the sheet.  Brush the scones with the reserved egg/cream mixture, then sprinkle heavily with the pearl or raw sugar.

Bake the scones for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and serve them warm.  Keep them stored in an airtight container.

Maple Pecan Scones

Oh my! I don't know when I have been as excited about a change in season! I am so happy that Fall has arrived. I'm usually a real lover of Summer and all its fun and glory, but being pregnant through the entire summer - and sick to boot with it and some other issues - I'm so grateful for cooler temperatures on the way. I can't say I'll feel the same way when Winter rolls around, but I plan to try to enjoy the heck out of Fall.

My apologies in the meantime to my TWD friends and especially Jacque who chose the Cottage Cheese Pufflets as this week's recipe pick - after reading everyone's difficulties with the recipe I just never felt like I was going to be able to commit the time and energy right now. Once I get feeling better I can't wait to give them a try since they are so intriguing.

To start that out, I made these Maple Pecan Scones a few days ago and just couldn't wait to share these with you! I started out with a recipe that I'm sure is fantastic as is, from the guys at Baked, but once I started making changes, I just couldn't seem to stop. I replaced the white sugar with dark brown, changed the walnuts out with pecans, traded out the buttermilk for cream and milk with a little lemon juice, and lastly added in some cinnamon chips and butterscotch chips. The original recipe also makes 12 large scones. I couldn't eat that many all at once - so, I cut the recipe in half, but still used one whole egg.

While the scones described in the Baked book were supposed to be substantial, I hoped with my changes that they would come out soft and light - and they did! They were tender and heavenly, with just a light touch of maple flavor to the scone and added in to that flavor was the touch of maple syrup in the glaze that went on top.

These are perfectly wonderful and totally edible - as in I ate three of them right away! If you want a scone that is easy to make and even easier to eat that will really get you in a Fall mood - look no further!

Maple Pecan Scones

Makes 8 large scones

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whisk together in a large bowl.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

Cut in the butter or rub in with fingertips to large pea-sized pieces and flakes.

1 large egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure maple extract

Combine and whisk together in a small bowl. Pour over the dry mixture and using a fork, toss to mix and combine to make a soft dough.

1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/4 cup cinnamon or butterscotch chips or a combination

Add in to the dough mixture and mix gently till just combined. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a circle about 1 1/2 inches high and 8 inches across. Cut into 8 triangle pieces and place on a parchment lined baking sheet a couple of inches apart.

Raw sugar and heavy cream for brushing top and sprinkling

Brush the scones with the cream, then sprinkle generously with raw sugar. Bake scones till golden for approximately 25 minutes.

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons heavy cream

Whisk the glaze ingredients together and use a fork to swirl the glaze over the mostly cooled scones.

Chocolate Chunk Scones - NaBloPoMo Day 5

There is bakery in Salt Lake City that I used to go to several mornings a week when I was still working downtown. Among all the other delightful pastries they had there were big scones, tender, light, fluffy and filled with chunks of chocolate. I loved them dearly. I would get a big hot chocolate, which I think was always a bit comical to whoever was working the counter when they asked if I wanted it made with skim milk and I said yes, then when they asked if I wanted whipped cream that got a yes too. I just prefer skim milk for the most part, but I rarely turn down whipped cream. The skim choice wasn't a diet thing, just a preference thing. I've gotten many funny looks for it, but oh well.

Back to those scones. Until I started going to some of the bakeries a few years ago, scones were to me what I guess is considered fry bread to others. We still call those scones too, but I had never had these sweet, biscuit-like scones. I was hooked and my favorite was, no surprise here, the Chocolate Chunk Scones. Now that I work from home and don't venture to many bakeries anymore, it was time to find a recipe to make my chocolate scones myself.

Imagine my delight when flipping through my copy of Carole Walter's book, Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More (which, by the way, pretty much about categorizes 9/10 of all my cravings) to find a variation for sconese with chocolate chips in them. It didn't take me too long to make them. The recipe makes 12 fairly good sized scones but is difficult to cut in half, so make sure you stash a few in the freezer in an airtight wrap to enjoy later. At room temperature, kept airtight, they keep for about 3 days. These scones were better than a dead ringer for the bakery variety - they were better. Good chocolate and a nice sprinkling of crunchy sugar on top really make this a knock out recipe to have in your arsenal.

Chocolate Chunk Scones
(Adapted from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More, by Carole Walter: original recipe found under Sedona Cream Scones)

2 cups sifted cake flour, spooned in and leveled
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned in and leveled, plus 1/4 cup additional for kneading and rolling
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk (reserve white for egg wash)
1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon cold water, for egg wash
1 tablespoon raw turbinado or sparkling sugar
1/2 cup good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Have ready a large, ungreased baking sheet. For ease of cleanup, I lined mine with a piece of parchment.

Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until the mixture forms pea-size bits. Gently add and mix the chocolate chunks into the flour/butter mixture, just to distribute them.

Whisk together the cream, egg, and yolk. Remove the paddle attachment and replace with the dough hook. With the machine off, add the cream/egg mixture to the flour mixture, then blen on low speed just until the dough starts to form a ball of big clumps - don't overmix.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with about 2 tablespoons of flour to start and turn the dough out onto the work surface, scraping out the bowl with a bowl scraper or rubber spatula. Lightly flour your hands and knead the dough five or six time til it comes together nicely then press it into a square about 8 inches big.

Move the dough aside and clean the work surface, then flour it again with about 2 tablespoons more flour. Using a well floured rolling pin, replace the dough in the center of your work surface and roll it into a 9x12-inch rectangle, with the 9 inch side parallel to the edge of the counter. Fold the dough like a business letter, folding one-third down from the top, then the bottom third up over the top, pressing the edges gently to align them the best you can. You should end up with three layers of dough. Press the top gently with your hands, then roll into a 17x4 inch strip. Using a sharp knife or bench cutter, cut the rectangle into 12 pieces. When placing on the baking sheet, invert each scone and space them 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake the scones for 15 to 18 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven and cool them on the sheet for about 5 minutes before serving them warm.