ROOTS & WINGS

8. Raspberry-Ricotta-Scones

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As you may know by now, I always have a stock of several (carb-y) selections so breakfast (and the needed calories) doesn't get boring. "Just" bread with cream cheese and cheese or jam (classical German breakfast) only work for so long.

So I'm always on the hunt of nourishing recipes that are tasty and sating, while at the same time carb-y. Since in the first half of the day we're most active, we need our carbs mostly then – and rather not while trying to "swallow down" the frustration when the last hour before Feierabend lasts an eternity, we had a hassle with partner / kids, or, especially when alone, gobbling them down at night in front of the TV.

Since I adhere to that simple truth, my weight first stagnated, and now bit for bit drops, without sport at the moment. I also get more done–

But I digress, sorry.

So I was on recipe-hunt for a healthy, carb-loaded breakfast solution – and as I already found "7. Meatballs Marsala"  in its sequel Smitten Kitchen Every Day, I found this one in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, NY-based food blogger Deb Perelman's first book.

With the fresh raspberries they are fruity, and the ricotta makes them both fluffy and juicy, so they don't roll around in your stomach like little rocks. (And with 1.75 oz. overall sugar they're not too sweet.)

Also, they're made in jiffy.

So off to the kitchen.




Serves: 9 Recipe; 18 ME; sorry just don't like them too big.

Prep Time: 1-1.5 hrs Since I made smaller ones, I needed two rounds of baking because of two sheets.

Degree of Difficulty: Easy




WE NEED


225 gr / 8 oz. flour I took spelt flour because that's not ridded of all its nutrients as white flour – and not so much contaminated with biocides like Glyphosate. => RECIPE: 1 cup each whole-wheat & white flours

15 gr / 0.5 oz. / 1 tbsp baking powder Recipe says "preferably aluminum-free"! Guys, WHAT. The. Heck. do you put in your darn "food" over there!?

1/4 cup / 50 gr sugar
1/2 tsp salt
85 gr = 3 oz. = 6 tbsp. butter
135 gr = 1 cup fresh raspberries Wash them hot for food safety (in the US: Glyphosate & friends!)
190 gr = 3/4 cup whole-milk ricotta
80 ml = 1/3 cup heavy cream




WE DO


1. Line a (2) baking sheet(s) with baking paper. Sample the raspberries. It can be that you can't use all of a given quantity – in Germany, e.g. punnets à 125 gr (a little less than 1 cup) – because some are rotten / moulding. So I was fine off buying 2 punnets immediately.



2. Cube the butter and put it in the freezer. Then, weigh out flour(s), baking powder, sugar + salt and whisk them together in a large bowl. Then remove the butter from the freezer, add it to the bowl and work it into the mix with your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal.

Deb uses a "sturdy pastry" blender for that. Since I don't know if a "normal food" blender is "enough" for that, I went for safety and did it by hand. BUT: like in the recipe, I blitzed the raspberries in the food blender because chopping them on a cutting board woulda been too much of a Sauerei to clean up after. BUT: if you do that, ONLY tap the blender's button 1-2 times, otherwise you'll have juice / jam I'm afraid

3. Using a (flexible) spatula, add + stir the ricotta + heavy cream into the butter-flour-berry mixture until a dough starts to form. Then, in the bowl, gently knead it by hand – because it sticks like *peep*, flour your hands – until you have an even mass. Fear you'll still have to wash / wipe clean your hands several times in the process, sorry.



4. Flour a working surface and pour the dough on it / "transfer it from the bowl with as few movements as possible" (recipe). Flour the top of the dough and pat it into a 7 in square, about 1 in high. Then divide it into even portions with a knife.


DEB cut out 9 squares. That appeared too UN-scone-y to me, though, as the scones I've made so far are rather round, because "cut out" with a 2(+) in glass. ALSO: since the bloody dough was so sticky, the knife-thingy worked as little as the "glass-cutter"-thingy did. So – regularly re-flouring my hands, I shaped the scones by hand. Looked more like 'em.

5. ALSO, Deb says that the oven shall be heated to 425°F – I only did 410°F as baking paper, at least in Europe, burns at 425°F – while you're prepping the scones. But all the little delays that can occur add up and so the oven would fire for no reason for quite some time and waste energy, which
wastes money.

So I only fired up my oven when I realized I had to shape the scones by hand. By the time I was finished, the oven was just ready and I could shove them in immediately.



6. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes OR until they're lightly golden at the edges. As every oven is different this can take longer / shorter After removing them from the oven, let them cool + set on the sheet for a (few) minute(s) before transferring them onto a cake rack. Otherwise you may burn your fingers.


ALSO: there's A lot of "whining" about eating scones the day they're made, otherwise they'd dry and brittle and lose taste and what-not. BUT: when you keep them in a paper bag or (and) in an airtight container... they remain fresh up to a week.



Happy Breakfast & Guten Hunger, everybody!