Vanilla "bean" scones and Strawberry soup

So this is a new blog I'm trying out. I love to bake, but usually mess something up during the process and it just makes it that much more fun.

Today I attempted to make vanilla bean scones and strawberry jam. They didn't have any vanilla beans at Mariano's, so I substituted one Tsp of vanilla extract for each bean in the recipe.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
2 whole vanilla beans
3/4 cups heavy cream
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2/3 cups granulated sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, chilled
1 whole large egg

Directions

For the scones: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Split the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla "caviar" inside. Stir the caviar into the cream. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the cold butter into pats, and then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Keep going until the mixture resembles crumbs.

Mix the vanilla cream with the egg, and then combine with the flour mixture. Stir gently with a fork just until it comes together.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 12-by-7 inches and 1/2-to-3/4-inches thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. Then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles. Transfer to a parchment or baking-mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

After realizing I couldn't get vanilla beans, I also realized I did not have parchment paper at home. No biggie- I just greased my cookie sheets. That said, getting my scones to be perfectly rectangular was impossible, so I used cookie cutters... Christmas cookie cutters. 

I know Starbucks makes some really beautiful looking scones. I made flat ones...

Happy F*ckin Holidays.

 

They taste good, so there's that.

On to the jam.

I trust Ina quite a bit because she's a fat lady and I assume fat women know their recipes. However, today she did me wrong.

Ina's Strawberry Jam Recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1 1/2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

Directions

Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over very low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Cook until a small amount of the juice gels on a very cold plate. (I keep one in the freezer.) Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated. Use immediately, or follow proper canning guidelines below.

Yeah, I made strawberry soup. I seriously babysat this stuff for over an hour on the stove to no avail, so I strained what I could and out of 2lbs of strawberries I got less than a pint of jam.

Bubbly...

 













Stuff it, Ina.


That's all I have for this installment. Keep on keepin' on, my friends. 

The End.