Creamy Scones 101

I am happy to announce that I finally found my go-to scone recipe! I think it's been a long quest for making the perfect scone - soft, buttery, juicy with currents. It's just a perfect European snack for coffee or tea. I tried all kinds of recipes to accomplish my dreams but to no avail. Thanks to amazing Smitten Kitchen, she saved my time and can finally say I made it. 

Not only these scones taste perfect, they are the fastest and easiest to make. I made these for my mom's farewell dinner after a long day. But these beauties are just so effortlessly made that they were fresh and ready within less than an hour. No freezing. No eggs. No hassle of rolling out the dough. AMAZING. 

Scones are definitely as versatile as cookies, you can improvise with the ingredients you add into the dough. Want savory? Add cheddar, broccoli, pumpkin… having a sweet tooth? Mix in cranberries, chocolate chip, mixed berries, you name it. Woah, I can't wait to make more variations from this basic recipe.

Yield about 8 small to medium size scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour, preferably with low content of protein 

5 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into 1 tbsp cubes

1 tbsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup currents/chocolate chips (I used half of the dough with mixed currents and half currents with chocolate chip) 

1 cup heavy cream (I did not have cream so I changed for Silk soy milk, they taste just as good!)

Steps:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl
4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and combine dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Do not over mix.
6. Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into a round shape in about 1 inch thick, then place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper or b) patting the dough onto a lightly floured work surface into a 3/4-inch thick circle, cutting pieces with a biscuit/cookie cutter, and pressing remaining scraps back into another piece and cutting until dough has been used up. (The latter method might not be as pretty because the last ones will be more crumbly with the leftover pieces sticking together)
7. Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy Baking!

100 days: yuzu chiffon cake

After receiving a rave of compliments from my family, I decided to make another chiffon cake for my son's 100 day old celebration :) In Asian culture, it seems to be a HUGE thing to pass 100 days. I remember people hosting huge parties, banquets and invite guests over - It's almost like a wedding! We chose this unique yuzu flavor for this cake, because the refreshing aroma and delicate sweetness fits the whole theme perfectly.

Chiffon cake is definitely a tricky recipe to make. Up till now I am still figuring out the perfecting techniques. For this particular cake, I was able to create the fluffy consistency but not the ideal shape yet. I suspect it's the temperature that caused the slight collapse of the cake. I use the instant yuzu honey instead of making from scratch.

9" chiffon cake pan
Ingredients:
6 large egg whites
sugar 90g
corn starch 10g
4 egg yolks
water 60ml
oil 60ml
all purpose flour 80g
Candied yuzu 150g~180g

Steps:

1. Preheat oven for 320 F. Whipped egg whites, add sugar when bubbles form. Then add corn starch. Mix egg whites until stiff peaks form
2. In another mixing bowl, mix egg yolks, water, oil, candied yuzu in low speed. Don't over mix
   
3. Add sifted four into the batter. Combine ingredients in the same direction
4. Add 1/3 of egg whites into (3) gently mix until combined
   
5. Add the batter into (1) and fold the mixture together from bottom to top
6. Pour into cake mold bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown
7. Take the cake out and put it upside down to cool. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
8. For detailed instructions please refer to this recipe

Tips:
*my lesson for this recipe is that, make sure your oven temperature is PRECISE as instructed. I did 325F instead of 320F and ended up heating up the cake way too fast, which caused a slight collapse when cooling
*If you want to improvise with a different flavor, be mindful of how much extra liquid you are adding to the mixture. Liquid can add more weight to the cake and it will not be able to rise as much
*Again, the consistency of the egg whites is key to success. Make sure the egg whites are stiff enough

Easy cinnamon rolls in 90 minutes

Cinnamon rolls seem to take forever to make and very likely to fail. I am glad I finally found my cinnamon roll recipe that's fail proof and tastes wonderful. Say Yes to freshly baked cinnamon rolls!!!!

(Yield 9-10 rolls)
Ingredients:
bread four/all purpose flour 5-6 cup
sugar 1/2 cup
salt 1/2 tbsp
yeast 3 tbsp
warm water 1 cup
buttermilk 3/4 cup
melted butter 1/4 cup
2 eggs

filling
cinnamon 1 tbsp
melted butter 2-3 tbsp
sugar 1/3 cup
brown sugar 1/3 cup
raisins (optional, 1/3 cup)

frosting
water 1/4 cup
powdered sugar 2 cup
1 lemon

Steps:

1. Mix together warm water, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter and yeast in a bowl. Allow to sit for 15 minutes . The yeast should start bubbling up like the second picture.
   
2. Add in salt, eggs and flour and mix for 10 minutes. Cover the dough with wet towel and rest for another 10 minutes in a warm place 
3. While resting prepare your filling. Mix together butter, brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon. It should be combined into a wet sand texture
   
4. Rol dough out on to greased countertop/silpat. Spread filling and sprinkle raisins on top. Roll up the dough, tighten the roll in the beginning to ensure a nice swirl pattern
5. Cut into 10-12 large rolls 
6. Preheat oven at 400 F. Place rolls on baking sheet. Cover rolls with wet towel again and rest for 10-15 minutes on top of the oven stove until the size enlarges again
   
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes
8. Mix frosting and pour over warm rolls. Enjoy!
   

Tips:

*bread four gives the roll a substantial texture almost like a morning bun, all purpose flour gives it a gooey soft texture. 

*do not mix in all the flour at once. Leave 1-2 cups behind, add 1/3 cup a time if the dough is too sticky.
*If your dough rises too much and become really thick, lower the temperature and bake longer. 400 F may cause browning on the outside but the inside is still uncooked
*Add your favorite frosting to taste. This time I used a lemon frosting glaze instead. For traditional flavors, add cream cheese frosting or butter sugar frosting
*Always check the texture of the dough while kneading. Test with your finger by pressing into the dough, if it bounces back it's ready. NEVER over-knead
*every time when you need to "rest" or rise the dough, make sure it's in a warm place. I usually heat up the oven just warm enough but not over 110 F, and let it rest inside the oven
*If you are using a standing mixer, always use speed 2 with a dough hook
*Closely seal your leftover rolls in a room temperature, they should last for about a week