Mia Bakes: Nestum Scones

Nestum cookies were pretty much da bomb earlier this year, weren't they? They've pretty much taken over the spot of cornflakes cookies during CNY this year. And of course, I did purchase a bag of Nestum cereal back then, planning to bake some CNY treats, but just never got down to it.
Looking at the bag of Nestum collecting dust in my mum's dry food cabinet, I felt kind of sorry for it (LOL!) and yet, do not really want to bake the Nestum cookies (yet) as I'm not feeling keen on waiting for my butter to soften.... So, what can I bake with chilled, rock hard butter?

SCONES!

So let's get over with the ingredients to get started!
To get 10 - 12 scones (squares), you'll need:

160g plain flour

30g nestum cereal

80g salted butter (cubed, frozen hard)

20g plain greek yogurt

50g sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

some milk 

100g sultanas & 50g pumpkin seeds

(optional, may add whatever you fancy)

First up, in a large bowl, add in your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and give it a quick whisk to combine. Then, throw in your cubed, frozen butter and cut them into the dry ingredients either with a pastry cutter or with a knife-and-fork until the mixture is mostly crumbly like wet sand and with bigger pea-sized bits of cold butter throughout the mixture.
Then, add in the nestum, sultanas and pumpkin seeds and give the mixture a quick toss to distribute them throughout the mixture before cracking in the egg and adding in the yogurt.
With a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry until everything just comes together into a dough ball. If the mixture is too dry and doesn't hold together, add in some milk, bit by bit, until your mixture is of the correct consistency to come together. I added just a tbsp of milk to be able to press my mixture into a dough.
Then, transfer your dough onto a piece of clingwrap and you may want to roughly pat it down into a flat square before putting it into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour (or overnight).

After the dough has been chilled, take it out from the fridge and roll it out to about 1 to 1.5 inches thick and cut them up into your desired sizes. I will recommend cutting them into squares instead of circles, so that you need not re-roll the scraps.

Then, lay them out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the top with some egg wash (egg beaten with some milk or water) if you wish to have your scones with beautiful browned top. Send the scones to bake in an oven pre-heated to 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or until the surface is browned.

I've obviously loaded my scones with the sultanas and pumpkin seeds (the seeds are there, just well camouflaged). 

The addition of greek yogurt not only cut some calories from the butter (if you do not wish to use yogurt, replace it back with butter) but also added more tenderness and moistness to the scones. I've previously tried making scones with a higher yogurt:butter ratio and found the end product too moist for my liking, so I reduced it back for this trial and it's just perfect!
The addition of Nestum also added ALOT of creamy, milky sweet fragrance to the scones that made it sooooooo addictive!

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Mia Bakes: Mixed Fruit Cream Scones

Some mixed fruit cream scones, anyone? :) Oh well, but if you haven't guessed it, they're all gone by now. So why don't you make some yourself? It'll just take you.... 30 minutes (if you don't mind not having much of that fancy layered flakiness)?

So let's get over the ingredient so we can get started! To get 6 scones, you'll need:

100g top flour (or cake flour)

28g superfine wholemeal flour 

(or swap it back for top/cake flour)

30g FROZEN, CUBED unsalted butter

60ml cooking cream (& an additional 1.5 tsp)

(or you can also use heavy, or whipping cream)

1 egg, beaten (separate into TWO servings)

5 tsp baking stevia 

(my baking stevia is in 1:2 sugar ratio, so you can do your own conversion according to your own sweetness preference)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

40g mixed dried fruits

(or you can use dried raisins, currants, sultanas etc)

First up, mix all your dried ingredients (flours, baking powder, sweetener) into a bowl and give it a quick whisk to combine. Then, cut in your frozen butter either with a pastry cutter, a mini food processor (recipe is too little to be using a large heavy duty one) , a fork with a knife, or simply just using your fingertips and rubbing the butter in. 

Stop when your butter are reduced to pea-sized and pretty evenly distributed in the dry ingredients. 

Then, mix in the dried fruits before adding in HALF of the beaten egg along with the cream and vanilla extract and give it a quick knead until everything just comes together into a dough. 

Never, ever overmix your scone dough as it'll work up the gluten in your flour (especially if you're substituting with all purpose flour) and you'll get tough, rock cake like scones. 

If you're in a hurry and do not like to wait, you can just pack the dough into a rectangular shape that's roughly 1.5 inches thick and cut them into 6 equal pieces, brush the top with some egg wash (add 1.5 tsp cream or milk to the remaining half of your beaten egg) and send them to bake at an oven pre-heated to 220 degree Celsius for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the top surface has browned nicely. 

If you can afford to wait for a couple more hours, then shape your dough into a rectangle, wrap it up in cling wrap and pop it into the fridge for at least an hour (I left mine overnight). 

Then, take out your cold dough from the fridge and let it rest for a few minutes on the counter if it's too stiff to work with (but it shouldn't be). With a bench scraper, cut the dough into half and stack the two pieces on top of each other. With the bench scraper (or roll with a rolling pin, if you prefer), press the dough to flatten it back into a rectangle of the previous size and slice it into two again. Repeat this slice-stack-flatten process for a total of 4 to 6 times. At any time, if you feel that your dough is getting too soft, wrap it back up in clingwrap and pop it back into the fridge for 10 minutes or so to firm it up. 

Then, cut your final rectangular dough into 6 equal pieces, brush the top with some egg wash and bake them off!

These cream scones are tender and crumbly, with a slight buttery fragrance (which is definitely something extremely important for a good scone, in my opinion) as compared to those cream scones that only uses heavy cream to replace all the fat (butter) in the recipe. Yes, that saves you the hassle of cutting frozen butter into the flour, but a scone ain't a good scone if it doesn't have the buttery fragrance, yes?

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia Bakes: Blueberry Yogurt Scones

Recently, there was a buy any 500g Emmi Greek Yogurt get a 500g Emmi Blueberry Greek Yogurt free at my neighbourhood Sheng Siong supermarket but what I didn't notice was that the free promotion was because the Blueberry yogurt were close to their expiration date. 

So, obviously unable to finish the entire tub of yogurt before it expires, I decided to try making some healthy(ier) yogurt scones!

To get 6 scones, you'll need:

125g of all purpose flour

30g COLD unsalted butter (cut into cubes)

180g blueberry greek yogurt 

(if using plain yogurt, do add some sugar to taste)

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup fresh / dried blueberries (optional)

recipe adapted from https://www.thespruceeats.com

First up, sift all the dry ingredients together and cut in the cold butter in food processor or using either a pastry cutter, or a simple knife-and-fork method until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then, dunk in your blueberries and give it a quick toss before mixing in the yogurt. With clean hands, lightly knead the mixture until it comes together to form a loosely packed dough. 

Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and pat it down with your hands/scraper until it is roughly a rectangle of 1.5 to 2 inch thickness. Using the scraper, cut the dough into half and stack the two pieces on top of each other and repeat the pat-cut-stack process for another 3 to 4 times. 

Finally, pat the dough down into no less than 1 inch thickness (or 1.5 inch, if you prefer tall scones, but then you would have to tweak your baking time) and cut them up into 6 equal pieces. 

Line them up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush over the top with some milk to aid in browning and sprinkle over some coarse granulated sugar. Then, send the scones into an oven, pre-heated to 200 degree Celsius to bake for 15 to 18 minutes. A hot oven is crucial for scones to rise to their fullest height, so if your oven can go up to even 210 degree Celsius, go for it but do keep an eye on your scones after 12 minutes to prevent the top from burning. 

I baked mine at 200 degree Celsius for 15 minutes, and noticed that the surface has gone quite brown but the middle has obviously not set. Hence, I cranked my oven temperature down to 175 degree Celsius and baked for another 5 minutes.

And tadaa~ crumbly and moist, sweet scones with blueberries in literally every bite. 

Using yogurt to replace the usual milk/heavy cream means a ridiculously moist scone. In fact, I feel that it is a little too moist (they're NOT underbaked, just moist) for my liking, so I might try out a mixture of yogurt and milk for my next try at these yogurt scones. But if moist scones are right up your alley, then go for it!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia Bakes: Cinnamon Roll Scones

After my first (and rather successful) try with Cinnamon Rolls (recipe HERE) a while back, I've been wanting to remake somemore for my #cheatdaysunday breakfast and yet, still want to try baking something new. 

And so, I decided to google for both 'cinnamon rolls' and 'scones' and stumbled upon joyofbaking's recipe for some really yummy looking cinnamon roll scones!

But as you know, it doesn't mean we should all go crazy just because it's cheatday, so I tweaked a little on the quantities to get a more diet-friendly serving size.

For 6 scones, you'll need:

130g All Purpose Flour

15g castor sugar

(I used 1 1/2 tsp of baking stevia instead)

42g unsalted, COLD butter, cut into small cubes

90ml to 100ml buttermilk

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt (or 1/8 tsp)

For the filling, you'll need:

15g soften butter

35g brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

20g raisins (optional)

First up, add all your dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to combine (or you may run them through a sieve) before cutting in your cold butter. 

You may do so with a pastry cutter, a simple knife+fork combination, in a food processor, or just by rubbing the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until all your butter pieces are no larger than pea-sized. 

Add in your buttermilk and mix until it just comes together to form a dough. Your dough shouldn't be too wet and sticky that you cannot handle it, and neither too dry that it couldn't form a dough ball. I suggest that you only mix in 90ml of the buttermilk and see how your dough forms, before adding in the other 10ml, if you require it. 

Then, turn out your barely formed dough ball onto a clean working surface, dusted with some plain flour to prevent sticking, and give it a few soft kneads such that it comes together better, and roll it out into a rectangle that is about 9 to 10 inches long, and 5 inches wide. 

And now, it's time for the filling! You may either spread the butter over the rolled out dough and then sprinkle on the brown sugar and raisins, or you may mix your butter with the brown sugar into a paste and spread it evenly over the dough before sprinkling in your raisins (that's what I prefer to do, as it's much less messier). Be sure to leave about half an inch along the long end of the dough such that you can seal it. 

Then, roll away! Starting from the long end of the dough that's nearer to you, flip the dough inwards and start rolling it away from you until you reach the 1/2 inch of dough that's previously left bare. With a pastry brush, brush on some milk along the strip before pressing the roll down onto the ends and giving it a new light nips to make sure that it's well sealed. 

Then, cut your dough log into 6 equal, 1.5 inches thick slices and set them onto a parchment lined baking tray, spaced an inch apart. 

Brush some more milk (or egg wash, which does better with browning as compared to just plain milk) over the top of the scones and set them to bake in the oven at 190 to 200 degree Celsius for 17 to 20 minutes.

And Tadaa~

Though these aren't the most crumbly and tender scone you can get (as you require a little bit more kneading and rolling along the way), the sweet, gooey cinnamon sugar filling that's in every bite surely make up for it!

Best of all, each scone is only 154 kcals! So, eat away!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: The Little Prince Cafe

Just last week, I came across a friend's post on FB about this cafe and she shared a really cute picture of the cafe and I was like, "OMG, you gotta tell me where is this cafe. Is it in SG?"even though we really aren't that close. Haha! 

Turns out the cafe is in SG and it's located at Somme Road, within walking distance of City Square Mall. So that very weekend, I dragged T over to try out this newly found chill out spot.

To be honest, I was rather disappointed to find it extremely small, with a max of 15 to 18 pax at the interior. However, the cafe is still pretty cute and cosy, and nicely decorated with many wall doodles and The Little Prince novels in many different languages.

I especially love this little corner of the cafe, that '3D' staircase art is pretty cute!

 And right at the corner of the counter, you'll get to meet The Little Prince himself, all in his true paper self! :)

And after which you'll get to meet his plushie doppelgangers, along with their plushie buddies. 

And among the table of decorations right beside our table, we found this! The Little Prince edition of Solvil Titus watch!

Here's The Little Prince novel in languages I've no idea of....

And if you think that's cool, guess what?

There's a pop up book too! In English, and I believed I scanned a Japanese one in another corner. 

And now to their food. :) Their menu is actually extremely limited, but also very affordable. I couldn't remember anything going over $10 on their menu.

My (usual) Cafe Mocha, served in a glass on a bronzed metal plate. I didn't expect much from their coffee in the first place because there wasn't any slightest hint of coffee fragrance in the tight space (think of Penny University, whereby the coffee fragrance just hits you once you push their door open). It was okay, but just not fantastic. Still beats Coffee Beans and Tea Leaf anytime, though. :p

 Homemade Scones, comes in 2 flavours - Umami (Seaweed) and Rasins, at $4.50 for 2. Needless to say, we got 1 of each flavour. 

Heard reviews from friends, and friends of friends, raving about their seaweed scones, which kind of upped my expectation of it. Hmm, a tad disappointed. The scones were okay, near crispy on the outside, densely packed and not moist at all on the inside. Pretty much like a rock cake, just flakier. 

And in contrary to the raves I was pre-fed with, I ended up preferring the raisin flavour more. More basic, and 'authentic'. 

The scones were also served with some citrus peel clouted cream, which I didn't quite enjoy (never a cream person) but T loved it. 

Oh well, it's really just my own personal preference on creams. 

(Half eaten) Onion & Bacon Quiche.

The quiche is nothing less than tasty, with a well baked crumbly crust and filling filled generously with bacons and onions. However, its texture deviates more towards that of an egg souffle, comparing to other really smooth, creamy custardy quiche I've tried elsewhere. 

For more information, visit their FB HERE

Till then,

Mia

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