Joy in the Little Things

[Phaedra]

The joy in the little things today - scone

In fact, I am working on two sourdough starters, one is with whole wheat flour, and the other is with Rye flour. The one with whole wheat flour is close to mature, and I have to discard part of it to keep the starter fresh and manageable.

The discarded part from yesterday was added to the scone dough and today, we have freshly baked scone, served with cream cheese and homemade jam.

It seems scone is pretty suitable for receiving sourdough starter, and they can be stored in the freezer after shaping. I am happy to figure out this to be one of the cafe's spring offering.

 

[ducks4you]

Sourdough starter recipe pls?
Scone recipe, pls?

 

[Phaedra]

Sourdough starter recipe pls?
Scone recipe, pls?

Sourdough starter: it takes 7-day minimum, mine is now going to the 21-day method.

You will need a clean glass jar, cheese cloth+rubber band as lid

Day 1: 50g whole wheat flour + 50g water, stir and rest in a warm place (68-75F), I put mine in the living room.
Day 2-7, basically the same feeding amoung, but you will need to observe how the starter develops. If it develops quick, from day 4, you can discard part of the starter before daily feeding. Discarding part of the starter is helpful to maintain a proper acidity and its health.

Signs of sourdough starter readiness
1. reliable rise and fall patten - size doubles within 4-6 hours after daily feeding
2. floating test - a spoonful starter can successfully float on water, it's ready.
(I didn't try yet, as mine is going for a 21-day method)

I used the discarded part to make scones to reduce the waste. The discarded part didn't have sufficient strength to help dough rise, but it adds flavors. This recipe is pretty classic, and we love the products. I just made my 2nd batch today and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

If you use lard or chicken fat (I will try, as I rendered chicken fat from skins almost every few days), and add ingredients like some chopped olives, dried tomato, cheese, you will get lovely savory scones. It's quick bread, and can last 48hrs in an air-tight container, just heat them up with microwave, toaster, or oven.

The form doesn't matter, if you have a round-shape cookie cutter, just use it and make 8-9 round scones. Otherwise, just roll the rough in a disk shape (1" thickiness), and cut it into 8 pieces.

Sourdough Discard Scones (with 100g Discard)

Ingredients:
250g all-purpose flour
100g sourdough discard
1 tbsp baking powder
50g sugar (adjust for sweetness preference)
1/4 tsp salt
100g cold unsalted butter, cubed
75ml milk or cream (add more if needed)
Optional: Add-ins like chocolate chips, dried fruits, nuts, or fresh herbs
Eggyolk and milk: for eggwash

392 °F / 15-20 mins

I like this procedure as after shaping the scones, you can also put them on a tray and freeze (2 hours until they are hard enough, then they can be stored in a bag/container together), kind of homemade frozen baking good. For frozen scones, just directly bake them and add another 3-4 minutes baking time.