Challenge #14: Lemon-lavender scones

Scones have been my baking staple as of late. They’re simple, tasty and go well with my morning tea/chai.

I recently read Chuck Palahniuk’s book “Fugitives and Refugees,” which gave me all sorts of ideas for things to do around Portland (which I believe Hannah read it once and possibly recommended to me). He also includes a recipe for lemon-lavender scones, which of course I have to try because lemon-lavender is one of my new favorite flavor combinations (after eating a lemon cookie and lavender ice cream sandwich at a Portland shop).

I couldn’t find Palahniuk’s original recipe on the Internet, and I’m too lazy to type it. But I found a couple that look promising.

As usual, we’ll pick and choose elements we like from each and see what happens. Here are the recipes:

Lemon-lavender scones from A Passionate Plate

Lemon-lavender scones with clotted cream and berries from Baking Obsession

Pita bread: Portland

I might never buy pita bread again. This was such an easy recipe (meaning not too time-consuming for a yeast bread), and the results were pretty much better than any store-bought pitas I’ve ever encountered. One note before we continue: You’ll notice that toward the end, the pictures get pretty low-def. That’s because my camera died, and my phone had to suffice. Cause evidently I cannot keep any of my electronics charged lately.

Above are the most important (and pretty much only) ingredients (minus the sugar for the yeast).

First, we dissolve some yeast in water and sugar, y’know, so the pitas puff into a pocket when they bake.

Next, we add the flour SLOWLY and use a dough hook to knead it into an elastic dough. Lesson: DO NOT accidentally turn mixer to high speed. Flour everywhere.

Now to let it rise. An hour and a half later and you’re done. So, confession time: This is actually the second batch I started. The first, I started, left to rise, and then ran out of time. So it sat on the top of my fridge for two days before I decided to trash compost that crap (this is Portland after all). What is the point of this story? Oh yes, I’m pretty sure my first batch rose a little higher than this one. Did it affect the quality of the bread? If I knew more about food science, I would probably be able to answer this question.

 

Nothing is more satisfying and sometimes frustrating than rolling out dough. It was super easy to work with, though (poetry).

And after taking practically no time at all to bake (I had to keep a super close eye on them, and some of them still got a bit too chewy), they were puffed and golden.

I’m pretty proud of how these turned out. And I’ve been eating them for lunch all week (not gobbling them all at once like I usually do with things I make), so that’s a positive development.