Remnants

Baking Scones
Having a fresh scone is a treat, and especially with a perfectly baked one.  We all know how to achieve that, we must have a right scone dough, correct temperature, and the appropriate time to cook.  How to knead, to roll, to cut, and not too much tempering are very important in scones making.

Cutting scones dough

Always knead the dough lightly, roll gently into one cm or more thickness,  cut into the size scone that you like.
The first cut of the scones from the dough always looks good.
Now what do you Do with the rest of the dough ‘the remnants’.  Should you roll and knead it again. No, I would not press it again instead I would gather them, cut it into strips, turn them into a small round shape (the size of the other scone)

You would have a few of those with curly or uneven shapes.
They are baked as good as the first batch, in fact, they look different as the tops are curly but pretty attractive.

Freshly Baked Scones

The first batch of the scones dough
evenly cut and baked beautifully

Bake scones of the leftover dough (remnants)
Pretty and as light

For pie baking, is the same too, I would not temper the leftover pastry too much, as it can be tough, unpleasant to eat.  The leftover could be used for the decoration of the pies, but if I need more for the pie making, then I would gather the remnant of the pastry and cut it onto shapes carefully.

Tips that may be useful, happy baking!




Until Next Post
Susy

CHOCOLATE

Everyone loves chocolate, including myself; however I do not eat much of it, as I am very picky about it, even though  I am not at all a chocolate connoisseur.  Once in a while, my family indulges me with a special treat of fine quality chocolate.  I found that Swiss and Belgian chocolates have a more delicate and chocolaty taste.  Dark and milk chocolates are enjoyable, but I am not so sure about the white chocolate.

Is Chocolate Gluten Free?
Well, it is a difficult question, before I could answer that I have to learn a lot more about chocolates.

Three types of chocolates: white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate

1. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk and flavouring such as vanilla
2. Milk chocolate is made from cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, milk and flavourings
3. Dark chocolate is made from cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, and flavourings

One of the excellent commercial chocolates in Australia may be the Cadbury products, but I found them too sweet, I could have a square piece from the chocolate block to go with my coffee, not more than that.  Often the children took me out for chocolate drinking or eating, at the Koko Black.  I like their chocolates, I think they have high-quality products, and the hand made chocolates are so delicate and decadent.  Melanie loves to get them for us.  One help, a small hand made chocolate is plenty for me.
By the way, thanks to Jane for the sugar-free chocolate.

Easter Time - Chocolate Indulgence

Chocolate 
As Marcel Desaulniers said in his book about chocolate.
Chocolate is indeed mysterious.  Its ancient history is clouded by pagan rituals and human sacrifices.  Cacao trees, bearing the cacao pods from which chocolate is manufacture, were cultivated by Central and South American Indians.  The harvest was used for a bitter drink that was thought to have aphrodisiacal powers.  And so it was that for hundreds of years, chocolate was enjoyed solely as a beverage.  Chocolate, as we experience it today, is a contemporary concoction.  Eating chocolate was not discovered until the nineteenth century.  Happily, for those who love chocolate, there has never been such variety and quality available.  Just like the birds and the monkeys of Central America who spread the seed of their addiction to cacao pods, so have contemporary chocophiles travelled and learned and developed chocolate confections that deliver the most pleasurable sensual experiences known.

Death By Chocolate Cake of The Trellis Restaurant

Cooking with Chocolate in my Kitchen.
Chocolate muffins and chocolate cakes are baked in my kitchen for special occasions.  I am also very adventurous regarding using chocolates in cooking, such as braised beef with chocolate.  Chilli and chocolate goes very well, I did nuts cashew dip in chocolate and chilli, it's excellent flavour as I love hot and spicy food.  Chocolate sauces, ganache to dress any cake or desserts, are popular too in my kitchen for special treats.
Chocolate cocoa powder is excellent for baking cakes and biscuits, I use them for my cakes, sponges, fried cookies-fried dough biscuits: Elephant Ear biscuits, and so forth.
I baked a  rich chocolate cake of Mary Berry's the British author of cake books.  I did her recipe of orange chocolate cake, but I omitted the orange flavour, and it worked well.  I love to show you what I did, and if you like, you may have the recipe too.

Preparation of Chocolate Orange Cake, recipe by Mary Berry

The ingredients of the cake 

Line two sandwich tins - 20 cm

Beat all ingredients together into a smooth mixture

Freshly baked sponges

The top is even and smooth.

Wait until the cakes are fresh and fill the sponge with buttercream filling and decorate as you wish.

There was a leftover of the cake mixture to bake mini cupcakes, it made four.

The leftover chocolate cake mixture made four mini cakes

The cakes dressed in chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry

Chocolate as Panacea.
(From the book: Death By Chocolate- By Marcel Desaulniers)
Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power; but its quality must be good, and it must be carefully prepared.  It is highly nourishing and easily digested, and it is fitted to repair wasted strength, preserve health, and prolong life.  It agrees with dry temperaments and convalescent, with mothers who nurse their children, with those whose occupations oblige them to undergo severe mental strains, with public speakers, and with all those who give to work a portion of the time needed for sleep.  It soothes both stomach and brain, and for this reason, as well as for others, it is the best friends of those engaged in literary pursuits. 
Baron von Liebig
Renowned Know-It-All

There is conclusive evidence today of the alimentary value of chocolate.  It contains calcium, phosphorous, potassium, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin A.  Of course, it is not a cure-all; instead, it is a food that brings great pleasure to the palate along with its nutritive value. 

I understood, may be it is a good thing to have more chocolates in our diet.  More is never enough, but less is plenty, does it make sense?  I do agree that chocolate is a restorer of energy.  From my experience if I am feeling fatigued, I need to have something sweet, a piece of chocolate would help me to regain my strength back.

I could not bring myself to try to bake - Death By Chocolate-cake, it is not only a complicated process but also it is a very decadent rich cake, each slice of the Death By chocolate (above picture) contains 1354 calories (5687 kJ) according to the author. 

A mini chocolate cake dressed in chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry served with small black coffee may be a perfect cake to end any meals.



To be continued.  Stay Tuned


Thanks For Stopping By
Susy

Autum Colours

Autumn in my garden is beautiful, there are gorgeous foliage leaves, white flowers of Camellia sasanqua brighten up the place, and the white bark of the silver birch trees stand out brilliantly.
Some of the Autumn leaves dropped everywhere, covering the ground with their dusky and rustic colour.  They look messy, but they are the future humus and composts, which add the richness of the soil in the garden.

Beautiful colours,  and the plants in my garden to celebrate the Season.

The beautiful colour of smoke bush foliage, white bark of the silver birch 

celebrate the season

From snowballs tree up to wisteria, their foliage made a beautiful

Autumn

 The green colour of the olives and citruses add a better picture in the garden

  Pretty potted plants are soft green with different shades

 The roses still leave some flowers before resting, they look tired but add colours in the garden.

The vegetable patch is almost empty, but self-seeds of lamb lettuce, with soft green colour, are springing everywhere, and the colourful radicchio lettuces stand out on a deserted place; indeed they add colours, not only into space but in any mesclun.

Self-seeds lamb lettuces and deep red radicchio in the vegetable patch

Very healthy and leafy nasturtium

 A large leaf of nasturtium, so green the plant is so healthy with large and green foliage leaves, pretty contrast to their yellow flowers.

Autumn is my favourite season, it is cold and pleasant.  Now it is the last week of the season, I enjoy the beauty of my garden, and also I will enjoy the Autumn colours in the park if I have a chance to walk around there.




Thanks For Visiting
Susy