Monday, August 10, 2015

Secret Recipe Club: Honey Almond Scones

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It's been a while since my last non-Secret Recipe Club post. I know I've been unfair to my other SRC members by not posting regularly. And so, as I've said a few times, this will be my last post for a while. I hope to be back with my regular posts and back in SRC in a few months - God willing! 

I was eager to see who I was assigned to for my last month before the break, and man - I wasn't disappointed! Goodie Godmother 's website is just awesome. This time I had to enlist my husband's help in choosing just one awesome recipe to cook! And after 15 minutes of browsing through, he just gave up and said, "everything looks so good. I can't choose. It's too hard!"

Mary, you've created a beautiful space for your readers! I love your blog and I love your '10 facts about me'. We are alike in a lot of ways - the love of caramel, the sweet tooth and a lot more. It was awesome getting to know a little bit about you through your blog!

So - back to choosing! Did I make these smooth and creamy, chocolate dreamy cookies which are so similar to a particular store-bought cookie that my kids love? Or do I make these vanilla bean marshmallows that remind me so much of my mom's homemade marshmallows? Ugh. So tough!

In the end, I made two recipes - the first one was these Red Velvet Baked Doughnuts. No surprise with my pick considering my love for all things red velvet is well-known. Unfortunately for me, just as I pulled the doughnuts out of the oven and I was waiting for them to cool, we had company. And before I could even think of photographs, they were all gone - yummy cream cheese glaze and all. :( Oh well! 

Finally, knowing my husband's love for scones, I settled on these Honey Scones. The flavour sounded lovely and it would be perfect for a Saturday morning breakfast with the family. 
The only modification I made was the addition of almonds. My husband needs the crunch of nuts in scones for them to be 'perfect' and almonds and honey made perfect sense to me. I also didn't use the Chantilly cream Mary recommended, but instead added a sprinkling of sugar over the top of the scones to add crunch and some extra sweetness.

Honey-Almond Scones
Recipe adapted from this one on the Goodie Godmother 

Ingredients 
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold & cubed
3/4 heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp sugar, for topping
1/3 cup almonds, roughly chopped

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper or Silpat.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and work it into the flour using a pastry cutter, two knives or your finger tips. You want the mixture to look crumbly with the butter still in small pieces.
4. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the cream, vanilla and honey.
5. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and combine with a wooden spoon just until the dough comes together.
6. Transfer the dough onto the prepared baking tray. Pat it down and shape it into a square about 8"x8".
7. Sprinkle the sugar and chopped almonds over the top of the scones in an even layer.
8. Using a sharp knife, cut the large square into 8-12 smaller squares depending on how large you want your scones.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the base and edges are a beautiful light golden brown.
10. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool before serving with a glaze, preserve, cream or spread of your choice!
The flavour of these scones were really good. I mean - how can you go wrong with honey and almonds. The texture was something different from what we're used to in a scone. I guess that's from the total lack of any kind of sugar in the recipe. The honey gives the scones a spongy, soft texture. There were no complaints :)
Thank you, Mary, for this recipe, and for all the other yummy recipes on your site. Everything looks scrumptious and I can't wait to try all the others I've bookmarked. 

Thanks to Sarah, Camilla and everyone else at SRC - especially Group B, for being so kind and sweet and welcoming! I've enjoyed my time here, and I hope I can bake with you again in a while.

Until next time, dear readers and friends - blessings and hugs to you all... 

XOX 


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