Downton Abbey Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones

Downton Abbey's Final Season, Episode 2, that airs Sunday night, takes place at the Annual Village Stock Show. Pigs feature prominently, so I thought it would be a good time to post a recipe for Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones. Some maple bacon scone recipes call for a glaze, but I prefer my scones not so sweet. I can always add clotted cream and jam. You can change up this recipe by using your favorite chocolate and by substituting candied bacon. This is a great breakfast scone with coffee or tea or an evening scone with a dark stout.

The following recipe is adapted from the Bacon Today website. If you're into bacon, you'll want to check out the site for Bacon Recipes, Bacon Shop, Bacon News, and more.

MAPLE BACON CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

3 cups flour (plus extra for work area)

Photo: Bacon Today

1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp maple syrup
3/4 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk, or dark)
1/2 cup bacon bits (you can also used candied bacon bits)
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
*to make sour milk, simply combine 1 Tbsp white vinegar for every cup of milk, then let sit for 15 minutes

Directions
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Combine flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and baking power in medium bowl. Add soft butter and cut with pastry blade or by crossing 2 knives. When mixture resembles fine crumbs, add in chocolate chips and bacon bits. Combine until chips and bits are coated in flour mixture.
Add sour milk and maple syrup. Mix well.
Turn mixture onto  floured working surface. Knead dough, adding enough extra flour to make slightly stiff dough. Shape into rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into squares, then cut each square into triangles.
Place triangles on parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cotton Candy Hot Chocolate: Cotton Candy Day

Today is Cotton Candy Day. I have never made Cotton Candy, and growing up we bought it fresh from the spinner at Faires, the Circus, and the Amusement Park. Now, you can buy it already made and packaged at the candy store or supermarket. You can also make your own using a Cotton Candy home machine available on Amazon and elsewhere.  Cotton Candy comes in all kinds of bright colors -- pink, blue, yellow and more. It even comes in a chocolate flavor. I've seen a lot of recipes for cotton candy truffles and cotton candy fudge, but they all use even more artificial flavors and colorings than the cotton candy itself has. So I'm posting a simpler recipe for Cotton Candy Hot Chocolate. The cotton candy is used as you would use marshmallows--on top of the cocoa. The cotton candy also acts as the sugar for your cocoa, so you can reduce the sugar in your hot chocolate recipe. This would be a great recipe for Valentine's Day. Just add some sugar heart candy! Original recipe and suggestion from Stepable.  Of course you can always just make your own cocoa your own way and top with Cotton Candy, but I always like to have an alternate cocoa recipe.

Where did Cotton Candy originate?
From Foodtimeline.org

Most people think the origin of cotton candy (also known as spun sugar" "fairy floss" or "candy floss") is a simple documented fact. It's not. There are several stories recounting the invention of cotton candy. All are interesting. None are definitive. Most accounts credit the invention of cotton candy to enterprising American businessmen at the turn of the 20th century. The 1904 Louisiana Exposition in St. Louis is often cited as the place where cotton candy was introduction to the American people. The truth? Spun sugar was known long before this time. Mid-18th century master confectioners in Europe and America hand crafted spun sugar nests as Easter decorations and webs of silver and gold spun sugar for elaborate dessert presentations. At that time, spun sugar was an expensive, labor-intensive endeavor and was not generally available to the average person. The invention of modern machines changed all that.



COTTON CANDY HOT CHOCOLATE

Ingredients 
1-1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa
3/4 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour)
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 cups milk
Cotton candy

Directions
In saucepan over low-medium heat, combine cocoa powder, chocolate, cornstarch, and sugar with small whisk. With a little bit of milk, whisk chocolate to avoid lumps. Add milk gradually while whisking continuously. Turn off heat when hot chocolate thickens and reaches consistency you like. If it's too thick, add more milk. Serve hot with cotton candy on top. The cotton candy serves as the sugar so  amount can be adjusted.

S'more Scones aka Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, S'more Scones

With Downton Abbey airing on MASTERPIECE PBS in the U.S. over the next few months, I thought I'd post 'some more' scone recipes. There's nothing quite like a scone and a cuppa when viewing an episode. The other day I posted a recipe for Downton Abbey Chocolate Cherry Scones. OMG, they're great. But since I'm in the U.S., I thought these S'mores Scones would be a marriage of the two continents. I'm calling them Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, S'more Scones. After all, the Countess is American.

I've tried several different S'more Scone recipes, but I really think that What's Gaby Cooking is one of the best. These scones are not too sweet, hold together well, and have a subtle S'mores taste. Recipe follows with just small adaptations.

S'more Scones
aka Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, S'more Scones

Ingredients 
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup graham crackers, pulverized
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup mini-marshmallows
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In large bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix together with fork. Fold in marshmallows and chocolate chips and mix together. Add heavy cream to dry mixture and combine together with fork until everything just begins to holdstogether. Using hands, form large mounds out of dough, about 1/4 cup of dough for each scone. Place scones onto parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 45 minutes before baking. Place into preheated oven and bake for 13-15 minutes until fully baked. Remove and let cool slightly before serving. Serve with whipped or clotted cream and jam.

Chocolate Whipped Cream: Dark, Milk, & White

Another day, another food holiday. Today is National Whipped Cream Day. I've posted many recipes that call for whipped cream including chocolate whipped cream for National Cream Puff Day. Today I have three recipes for Chocolate Whipped Cream--milk, dark, and white.

Chocolate Whip Cream is terrific to add to desserts, fill cream puffs, and so many other innovative uses. It's easy to make and delicious. You can use it as an icing or filling (tarts, pies, etc). You can use it with just about anything you would use regular whipped cream for, including Strawberry Short Cake!

The first recipe for Milk Chocolate Whipped Cream is from Martha Stewart. Martha uses chocolate whipped cream for the filling of chocolate sandwich cookies. Fabulous!  I love these Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Whipped Cream, and you can use any chocolate cookie recipe!

The second Chocolate Whipped Cream Recipe uses a lot more chocolate, and it's dark chocolate. Which chocolate you choose depends on what you like and what you need!

The third chocolate whipped cream is from the Queen of Chocolate, Alice Medrich. It's for White Chocolate Whipped Cream. Of course, she has great recipes for Dark and Milk chocolate, so check out her recipes online and in her many chocolate cookbooks.

The Retro Advertisement is for Reddi Wip! Don't use a can if you have the ingredients and time to make your own. It's so much better!

Photo: Martha Stewart

1. CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM (from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients
4 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups heavy cream
3 Tbsp sugar

Directions
1. Place chocolate in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat sugar and 1 cup cream in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour cream mixture over chocolate; stir until chocolate has melted. Let cool.
4. Transfer chocolate mixture to electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Add remaining cup heavy cream and beat on medium speed until thick and fluffy.

How easy is that?

2. DARK CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM (from Sherry Yard)

I really love this recipe from Sherry Yard for Chocolate Whipped Cream. It's definitely more of a rich whipped ganache, but then isn't that what it's all about? Sherry Yard was the executive pastry chef at Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Beverly Hills and shared this recipe on Cookin' with Good Morning America (December 25, 2003). It's also in in her book Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts.

Ingredients
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
1 Tbsp sugar

Directions
1. Using serrated knife, finely chop the chocolate into 1/4 inch pieces and place in medium heatproof bowl.
2. Bring cream and sugar to boil in small saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour hot cream over chopped chocolate. Tap bowl on counter to settle  chocolate into cream, then let sit for 1 minute.
Using rubber spatula, slowly stir in circular motion, starting from center of bowl and working out to sides. Stir until all chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour ganache into medium container, cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. It should be consistency of peanut butter.
4. Once ganache has chilled, transfer to large bowl. Using balloon whisk, whip ganache by hand until it just reaches soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Be sure to lift whisk out of cream with each pass to bring in as much air as possible. Do not overwhip. Don't worry if cream doesn't seem firm enough. It will have consistency of mustard but will solidify more after it sets in the refrigerator. You can also use a hand mixer.
5. Use this cream immediately to fill pastries, tarts, and cakes. After dessert is filled, refrigerate for about 1 hour to set the Chocolate Whipped Cream.

3. White Chocolate Whipped Cream from Alice Medrich

Ingredients
4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp water
A pinch or two of salt (optional)

Directions
Put chocolate in medium bowl.
Bring cream and water to simmer in saucepan and pour over chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds, then stir well.
Let stand for 15 minutes to finish melting chocolate, then stir again until every last bit of chocolate is melted into cream. Let cool. Taste and add salt, if desired.
Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours, or until completely chilled.
To serve, whip the cream with electric mixer until it holds a shape.
Use immediately or refrigerate until needed.

And, as always, your final product will only be as good as your ingredients. Use the best. Here's one of my favorite whipping creams!