Baking Basics

Baking, there's nothing to it!  Throw together some flour, butter, eggs, salt and sugar and you're bound to come out with something soft and edible, right?  Not always the case.  Baking is a science. While that phrase is beyond cliche, it does have some truth to it.  To be successful in baking, you'll need just the right amounts of just the right ingredients.  Once you've got that arranged in your kitchen, you'll need to right technique to incorporate those things.

Over the next few weeks, we're going to go over some baking basics like:
What's the difference between muffins and scones?  It's all about the butter.
Custards-  why so many fancy foreign names?
Yeasted Breads-  don't be scared.
Cakes- the good, the bad and the rolled.
Cookies- roll them out and pile them up.
Pies- yes you can.

Baking is a breeze once you know the basics.  It's all about temperature and technique. Knowing is half the battle, and you're on your way!

Let's start with scones and muffins.  Two rather simple breakfast treats with entirely different techniques.  It's all about the butter.  Let's get to it.  

The Scone Technique
Scones are a perfect example of a baked good that needs controlled temperature and technique.  Scones are small, cake like quick breads similar to the American biscuit.  They're all over coffee and pastry shops in flavors that range from Blueberry Streusel to Chocolate Chocolate Chip.  However you decide to dress them up, you'll need two things when if comes to successful scone making:  ice cold butter and quick hands.  
Scones use the "cut in" technique.  This refer to how the butter is incorporated into the flour.  With the "cut in" technique, small ice cold chunks of butter are broken down into walnut to pea sized chunks in the flour.  You can break the butter down with a pastry cutter, or your fingers.  I find I have more control with my hands than with a pastry cutter, so I quickly use my fingers to literally break and rub the cold butter into the flour.  Once the butter is successfully incorporated into the flour, I throw the entire mixture into the freezer to chill and recuperate from any warmth that might have transferred from fingers to the butter.

Once the butter and flour mixture is chilled, add any fruit or zest.  Mix all of the wet ingredients separately and add all at once into the butter/flour mixture.  Stir with your hands until the mixture just comes together.  This is important.  Over mixing or over working the dough will start to warm the butter chunks, and undo all the hard work of cutting in the butter.  Quickly incorporate the wet and dry ingredients, dump the shaggy mixture onto a lightly flour counter, shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Letting the dough rest will chill the butter and help distribute the liquids.

So what does all of this cutting and chilling do for you scones?  It's all about texture.  Creating pockets of cold butter in your scone dough produces delicate and flaky scones.  In the oven the scones bake up and the butter pockets melt, creating layer and layers of almost cake like crumb.  In a perfect world, scones should always be served warm out of the oven, split open and slathered with homemade strawberry preserves.  Do what you will, but always enjoy them the same day, warmed if possible.

Continue to Baking Basics - Part 2? Or, jump to Baking Basics - Part 3?