Introduction
The fortunate who live in an area where wild garlic can be found, there is a small window of time in March – April when these fragrant pillowy scones can be made, it might just become a yearly event in the kitchen. When wild garlic is not available, finely chopped chive is a good substitute, or still lovely without any herbs as cheese scones/biscuits.
The yeast dough is rested and slow proofed in the fridge for a couple of hours, which makes these especially light an airy.
Ingredients
Makes about a 100 pieces small scones/biscuits of 1.5″ diameter
For the dough
- 50 ml [2 fl ounces] milk
- half a teaspoon of sugar
- 25 grams [1 ounce] of fresh yeast,
substitute is 1x7g sachet/envelope of easy-blend (or “instant”) yeast - 500 grams [4 cups] plain flour [all-purpose flour]
- 250 grams [2 sticks] of soft butter
- 1 level tablespoon of salt
- 70 ml [0.3 cup] of sour cream, about two generous heaped tablespoons
- 1 egg
- 100 grams [3.5 ounces] grated cheddar cheese or a similar semi-hard cheese
- 1 bunch of wild garlic leaves, I used approximately 30 leaves, about 40 grams, larger stems removed and leaves chopped finely
For the egg wash
- 1 egg
Method
- Heat the milk until just lukewarm, stir in the sugar and crumble in the yeast. Set aside to activate, about 10 minutes. (If using easy-blend yeast this step can be skipped as it comes in the form of very fine granules so can just be added directly to the flour and mixed in along with the other ingredients in the next steps.)
- In a large bowl, rub the flour, soft butter and salt together until crumbs form. If working with a food processor, pulse a few times to cut into the flour and create a crumbly mixture.
- Make a well in the middle of the crumb mixture and place the egg, sour cream and activated yeast mixture in the center, knead until well combined.
- Work in the grated cheese and the finely chopped wild garlic leaves lastly, making sure they are evenly distributed.
- Shape the resulting soft dough into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least two hours, also could be left overnight if you wish.
- Folding to create some nice laminated layers.
The simple instruction is to roll and fold the rested, proofed dough a few times. In a bit more detail; roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and fold in half, then in half again. Repeat one more time, roll out the now folded dough, fold twice then roll out a final time to around 1cm [0.4″] thickness if using a small 4cm [1,5″] cutter like the one here. For larger diameter scones the dough-sheet can be left a bit thicker.
💡 Tip: rest the folded dough before each rolling for a few minutes, it will relax and become easier to manage. - Score the surface of the rolled out dough with a checked pattern. Hold a sharp knife lightly at a 90-degree angle to the dough. Work in swift light movements, just to scratch the surface.
- Dip a 1.5″ round-shaped cutter in flour and cut out the scones, placing them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment as you work.
- To make the egg wash, crack an egg into a bowl and beat it thoroughly with a fork. Paint the top of each scone with a pastry brush carefully avoiding the sides.
- Rest the cut out scones on the tray for a further 30 minutes, away from draft, meanwhile start the oven at 220°C [425 °F]
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until the edges start to turn a deep golden colour. Cool on a rack.
Best served freshly made, still a little warm. - Enjoy and Happy Easter! 🌷🐰
Kusanum
Szívesen Margaretann! :-)