Baking quick questions

joedenise

I use my food processor for the rubbing in stage only. Have found it's fine for that part but not so good once you've added liquid. I like to mix the liquid in my hand so that I can "feel" when it's the right consistency.

Denise

organic_wanabe

I use my KitchenAid Mixer for the rubbing in stage for scones and cakes and it works great. My scones turn out really light and fluffy. However, it is very pricey if this is all you need it for!

Clutterfree

I use my food processor for the rubbing in method.
How do you use your Kitchenaid please? I use mine for mixing, whisking and kneading but no idea how it could make the texture for rubbing in.
Thanks.

valk_scot

When you're rubbing in with your hands you're supposed to lift your hands up and let the mixture you're rubbing drop back into the bowl lightly. this helps incorporate air which in turn makes scones lighter. "Rubbing in" by machine really just chops the fat up into the flour so no extra air. Also when making scones it's important to work the mixture as little as you can and it's very easy to overdo this when using a machine as you just can't judge the feel of the mix So while rubbing in by machine is okay for pastry, its very much second best for scones. You'll get a decent enough result with practice but it will never be as good as using your hands.

Rubbing in bores me rigid too btw. That's why I taught my 9 year old to do it. She's a dab hand at scones now!

zippychick

ive merged this with baking quick questions

our easy scones thread may also interest you

Zip

Justamum

McKneff wrote: »

I bought a new Bero book and a lot of the recipes are different from the old one. A lot less sugar is used and i didnt like the results.

A lot of the recipes from We'll Eat Again have less sugar than more modern recipes too - obviously because it was the war - and I'm not keen on them either. Mind you, having said that I measured out the war rations in the book and there was a heck of a lot more fat and sugar than I'd use in a week:eek:

organic_wanabe

Sorry for not replying sooner. I put 1tsp raising agent, 8oz flour (I always McDougall's Supreme so I don't have to sift - not very moneysaving but it always has great results!) and 2 oz of butter into my KitchenAid bowl and use the flat mixer to get it to the breadcrumb stage. Don't mind how long I leave it on at this stage (though it doesn't take long, but the phone might ring or something) because as far as I am concerned the 'overworking' comes when you add the liquid ingredients. When I have my fine breadcrumbs I add about 1.5Tbs of caster sugar for very short mix in. I then add my whisked egg/quarter pint of milk/pinch of salt liquid and give it a couple of mixes but only till it is combined as I don't want to overwork at this stage. I then dump the mixture onto a floured board, sift a little flour on top, then press down into the mixture with a tumbler to get my rounds. I then egg-wash with a little of the egg/milk liquid that I have left for that purpose and then bake in my Remoska. Everyone remarks on how light my scones are. It is ages since I have made them in the oven but recollection is that they were as good. However, I haven't tried this method using just 'normal' self-raising flour but I might give it a go just to see if it makes any difference.

Hope this helps - I used to hate 'rubbing in' before I used the KitchenAid. The phone would always ring just when my hands were covered with the 'gunge' though I subsequently read that a good idea was to put plastic bags over your hands so that you could take them off to answer the door or phone but I no longer have this problem.

Good luck.

Mayflower10cat

I always use the food processor with the normal chopping blade for scones, pastry, biscuits etc. Only to 'rub in' fat to flour. Then I tip the crumbs into a bowl and add the liquid stirring with a table knife or spatula. It speeds up the method hugely.

zippychick

ive merged this with baking quick questions

Zip

mildredalien

Hi all! I had my first attempt at baking bread (well rolls) yesterday - have to say it didn't go TOO badly although they didn't look anything like the pictures!! It was a 'no knead' recipe involved mixing flour, yeast, salt and water and just leaving it for 2 hours, then shaping, leaving it for another hour, then cooking (with a steam bath thingy). Simple or so I thought....

Anyway, they came out a bit denser than I expected and didn't seem to rise very much. Is this something to do with the yeast not activating properly? Should the water added to the dough have been warmer, or did I just need to leave it for longer? I have some of the dough left (although it's got a little hard on top as I didn't cover it tightly enough when I put it in the fridge ) - is this salvageable? Any way I can make it less dense at this stage?

Sorry for all the questions!