After the success I had with substituting white chocolate for lard in
Dan's tea cakes, I was keen to try something similar with scones. I don't like my scones too sweet as the usual addition of jam or honey make them quite sweet enough. So, so my reasoning went like this: if I substitute white chocolate for some of the butter and add a little bit more for sweetness, then can I also omit the sugar?
This is what I did:
- Finely grated 1.5 oz white chocolate (G&B) using my brilliant chocolate grater.
- Put this into a large bowl.
- Added 8oz flour (2oz wholemeal, 6oz white), 1 tsp cream of tarter and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda and a large pinch of Himalayan pink salt.
- Rubbed 1oz unsalted butter into the flour mixture until all incorporated.
- Made a well in the centre and added 1/4 pt of sour milk.
- Gradually stirred in the flour using a knife until the mixture formed a ball of dough.
- Rolled this out on a floured board to what I thought at the time was 3/4 inch but was in fact more like 1/2 inch!
- Placed on a lined baking tray & baked on the top shelf of the oven at 190C for 13 minutes.
The scones were light, just the right side of sweet and tasted delicious with a slight flavour of vanilla and white chocolate. They were soft on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside and were just as good on day two as on day one. I shall definitely be making these again. Topped with jam and cream and a nice pot of tea, they really hit the spot mid-afternoon. Although, actually, they were also rather good with passionfruit curd - more on that later.
I am submitting these to Teatime Treats where Karen of
Lavender & Lovage has chosen scones as the theme for this month. The challenge is hosted on alternate months with Kate of
What Kate Baked.
What a tasty tea time treat!!
ReplyDeleteYes they are. Trouble is, whenever I make scones I feel I want to have a tea party, but it's usually too late to organise by the time I've thought to make them.
DeleteThis is so creative---can you taste the white chocolate, or does it just give the scones a sweetness? I recently made dark chocolate scones, and now I'd love to experiment with the white.
ReplyDeleteYes, you could taste the white chocolate a bit and definitely the vanilla (it was G&Bs very vanillary white choc), but it also contributed to the soft texture. I've made chocolate ones using cocoa, but haven't actually tried chocolate. How did they turn out?
DeleteThat looks so good! What a clever idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you Alicia, I was really pleased with them.
DeleteI've always used a basic plain scone recipe with no added sugar (as in the Be-Ro book/website), but this sounds a tasty variation if you are used to adding sugar.
ReplyDeleteQuite right too Suelle. I never put sugar in scones either before I started making chocolate ones. But many people do seem to like a sweet scone and most of the recipes state to put sugar in.
DeleteThese look great! Good idea. You have a grater especially for chocolate??
ReplyDeleteHa ha Lucy, I do. I got fed up with chocolate melting in my hand and this one works a treat. You can of course use it for other things, but I haven't felt the need to yet.
DeleteHow creative, I love the way you bake with such flair and imagination! These sound delicious, I love that they stayed fresh for a second day. Jude x
ReplyDeleteOh thank you for saying such nice things Jude, you always give me a boost :) Actually, I ate the last one on day 5 and it was fine warmed up slightly in the oven.
Deletethey are STUNNING!!!... I can totally imagine what these taste like, quite rich and a little buttery and biscuity? Divine x
ReplyDeleteDom, stunning? Ha ha, you say the nicest things! Though I am feeling a little proud of this invention.
Deletesounds like a great idea and I am amused at the idea of rubbing white chocolate into butter - I checked my basic scone recipe and it doesn't have sugar but many do and I can imagine this is just right - now I wish we were the sort of household to just have white chocolate hanging about (but if he finds it E hoovers it up)
ReplyDeleteHa ha Johanna. I have to hide all chocolate from CT or I would have nothing to use either. I never used to use sugar in scones either, not until I started making chocolate ones anyway!
ReplyDeleteWhat a. Good recipe, love your clever use of white chocolate . Even better to hear they are also good the next day. Am interested to know more about your chocolate grater too! Xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura. I meant to put a link in to the grater and forgot - now rectified!
DeleteInteresting idea to replace both butter and sugar with white chocolate. It looks like it's worked a treat - they look great.
ReplyDeleteThanks C. I didn't replace all of the butter, only half of it, but they did work well and kept better than scones normally do too.
DeleteWhat a lovely looking grater that is! X
ReplyDeleteIt certainly makes grating chocolate a lot easier Laura
DeleteDid you say white chocolate and scones? In the same breath? I think I need to go and lie down in a dark room for a little bit!
ReplyDelete;0)
No lying in dark rooms allowed Chele - just get into that kitchen and bake ;-)
Deletethese white chocolate scones look really amazing!:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Gloria - they taste very good too :)
DeleteWhat a great idea for chocoholic/scone fans!
ReplyDeleteQui moi? Chocolholic?
DeleteLooks like the substitution worked out well - and that chocolate grater looks amazing, I always make so much mess trying to grate chocolate normally!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was pleased with these. The grater works really well - as long as you've got somewhere to put it!!!
Deleteooh chocolate AND scones, fabulous idea. They look like they have risen well even if you rolled to half and inch.
ReplyDeleteThey did well Janice, but I still wish I'd made them thicker - always find it hard to judge scone size.
DeleteLOL would you all STOP talking about chocolate till after monday! Seriously these look fabulous. And with my new found scone making skills I might have a go!
ReplyDeleteFiona, it's impossible for me to stop talking chocolate AND Monday is not so far away now - good luck.
DeleteWhat a FABULOUS entry for Tea Time Treats thanks and I can see how white chocolate would work so well in these too...Thanks for entering Tea Time Treats with a special Choclette recipe, Karen
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen, but really how could I do anything else? Really looking forward to joining you all for a fabulous scone fest at the end of the month :)
ReplyDeleteThese look so wonderful, and perfect for tea time!
ReplyDeleteThank you Angie. Now I know they work, I just need to invite some friends over and make some more ;-)
DeleteI love the idea of a white chocolate scone and can imagine they are heavenly with passion fruit curd - such a delicious combination of smoothly sweet and beautifully sharp.
ReplyDeleteOh that passionfruit curd is so delicious and it did go particularly well with the scones - you described it just so :)
DeleteGreat idea using the white chocolate. Glad it worked well! I tend to reduce the sugar amounts from most recipes but have been caught out a few times! Plus as you've mentioned, with scones you can always add your own sugar in the form of jam or honey later.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ros. I didn't used to use sugar in my scones at all, but have been seduced recently because of making chocolate scones which somehow seem to call for a bit of sugar. Think I will try some without next.
DeleteVery creative and sounds delicious. Anything white chocolate is a massive winner in my books.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo. I'm with you, white chocolate works really well in baking IMHO.
DeleteChoclette, you are very, very clever. I would never have thought to sub white chocolate for lard. And the chocolate grater is yet another gadget I'm probably going to have to have.. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Celia, although all credit goes to Dan rather than me. I got the idea after making his tea cakes where he suggests vegetarians can use white chocolate rather than lard. The chocolate grater works really well - once I sussed that putting a bowl underneath to catch the chocolate worked much better than a plate. I used to just get melted chocolate all over my hands!
DeleteSuch a lovely recipe, I'm really keen to try this as we have all the ingredients bar sour milk so may just use whole milk. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteJaime, you could just put a squeeze of lemon into the milk to make it sour - that works as a good substitution.
DeleteI'm intrigued by the 'sour milk', do you literally use milk that has gone off? I sometimes use buttermilk or yoghurt for scones - what are you using?
ReplyDeleteKate, gone off milk is horrible!!! You won't get sour milk with pasteurised. But I'm lucky enough to be able to get raw milk and that mostly goes sour rather than going off - it sort of goes thick like buttermilk and tastes, well "sour". Although you have to be careful, sometimes it just goes off. Alternatively, you can add lemon juice to milk to make it go sour.
DeleteWow, I never would have thought to swap out lard (or even butter) for white chocolate, but that's genius and I'm sure it tastes better than plain or lard. It doesn't seem the scones were gooey - but I'm guessing they were very moist...
ReplyDeleteThank you JW. No, they weren't in the least bit gooey. If you use a good quality white chocolate where the cocoa butter is high, it should work well. Cocoa butter is quite a hard fat, but gives a nice soft result.
DeleteGenius! who would of thought to make such amazing changes to a scone recipe, one to add to my baking list :) thanks
ReplyDeleteThank you - flattery will get you everywhere ;-)
DeleteI would never have thought to make chocolate scones! What a great idea for chocoholics.
ReplyDeleteI am having a weekend in my kitchen this weekend just baking and nothing else and this recipe is going to be one of the things I will be trying
ReplyDelete