Baked Sunday Mornings

a sweet journey through baked: frontiers | explorations | elements | occasions

You are here: Home / Archives for breakfast

In the Oven: Chinese Five Spice Scones

by Leave a Comment

We’re baking an homage to Chinese New Year next – distinctly American-style scones, with a nod to Chinese flavors. Posting date is January 31!

Chinese Five Spice Scones
 
Print
Author:
Yield: 8 large scones
Ingredients
  • 1⁄3 cup (45 g) sesame seeds
  • 2 cups (255 g) all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon plus
  • 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 ounces (1 stick/115 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon (75 ml) well-shaken buttermilk, plus more as needed
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ¼ cup (60 g) demerara sugar (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium skillet, toast the sesame seeds over medium heat, stirring and flipping, until just starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep stirring for another minute or so. Remove from the pan onto a small plate and set aside to cool.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, five-spice powder, salt, and cooled sesame seeds. Add the butter and use your fingertips (or a pastry cutter) to rub (or cut) it into the flour until the butter pieces are pea-size and the overall mixture looks coarse and pebbly.
  4. Place ¼ cup of the buttermilk into a glass measuring cup or bowl and whisk in the egg yolk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the wet ingredients. Use a large wooden spoon and stir until just combined; do not overwork the dough. Gently and briefly knead the dough in the bowl with your hands until it just comes together. The dough should be dry but hold its shape. If it feels too dry (i.e., the dough is falling apart), knead in another tablespoon of buttermilk.
  5. Transfer the dough to a very lightly floured surface and pat it into a rough circle slightly under 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Cut into 8 wedges and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.
  6. Brush the tops of the scones with a little bit of buttermilk, top each scone with a sprinkle of demerara sugar, if you like, and bake for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until the scones just start to brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes. Serve the scones slightly warm, or let them cool completely directly on the cooling rack; regardless, we like them with a little bit of peanut butter or butter.
Notes
How to store: The scones taste best when eaten within 12 to 24 hours.

In the Oven: Orange Pancakes with Honey Butter

by 1 Comment

Our first recipe for September involves no baking – instead, we’re making pancakes! Posting date is September 13.

In the Oven: Orange Pancakes with Honey Butter
 
Print
Author:
Yield: 10 to 12 (6- inch / 15- cm) pancakes
Ingredients
For the Honey Butter
  • 8 ounces (225 g) unsalted high-fat/European-style (cultured) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
  • 3 tablespoons clover honey
For the Orange Pancakes
  • 2 cups (255 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup (240 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 cup (230 g) plain full-fat Greek yogurt, strained
  • ½ cup (120 ml) well-shaken buttermilk
  • 4 ounces (1 stick/115 g) plus
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
  • Zest of 2 oranges (about 3 tablespoons)
Instructions
Make the Honey Butter
  1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and honey on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes. Scrape the honey butter into a ramekin to use immediately with the pancakes. Leftover honey butter should be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Make the Orange Pancakes
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C), if you plan to make all of the pancakes before serving them.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the orange juice, yogurt, buttermilk, 4 ounces (115 g) of the butter, the eggs, sugar, and orange zest.
  4. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the well, and stir together until just combined.
  5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Brush the pan with some of the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Add 1⁄3 cup (75 ml) batter to the pan per pancake, cooking until bubbles form on the tops and the pancakes are browned on the bottom. Flip and continue cooking them until they are completely browned on both sides, another minute or so. Continue buttering the pan and making pancakes until all the batter is used.
  6. Serve immediately as the pancakes are made, or keep them in the oven on a heatproof plate just until you’ve cooked them all (don’t leave them in the oven longer). Serve with copious amounts of honey butter.

 

In the Oven: Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

by 10 Comments

Posting date is May 19!

Cornmeal Griddle Cakes
recipe source : Baked Explorations, p. 45

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter for the skillet

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Bring 1 ½ cups water to a boil. Place the cornmeal in a large bowl. Stirring continuously, slowly pour the boiling water over the cornmeal. Keep stirring until the mixture has cooled to lukewarm, almost to room temperature. Add the brown sugar and stir until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until pale yellow. Add the buttermilk and whisk until blended. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, to the cornmeal in three parts (beginning and ending with the flour mixture), stirring after each addition until just combined. Stir in the melted butter.

Heat a skillet or griddle pan over medium-low heat.

Add 1 or 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet and make sure it coats the surface. Drop griddle cakes in ¼-cup batches into the skillet (they will spread – do not crowd the pan). Cook until the bottoms are medium-brown, about 3 minutes, and the tops are bubbly, then flip the griddle cakes over and cook the other side for about 2 minutes and serve immediately. Continue cooking and serving until all the batter is gone. Serve with generous amounts of sweet butter.

Excerpted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2010 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.