The Secret Ingredient ~ Laura Schaefer

     As I might have told you before, I'm a bookworm. At the moment, I'm reading this super fantastic book about a girl who works as a barista at her grandmother's teashop, The Steeping Leaf. Annie (that's her name) is battling a fierce competition in a scone bake-off sponsored by one of their tea suppliers. Her food blog starts attracting mean comments and there's a whole matter of a stolen kiss with her sworn enemy Zach Anderson in the stock room. With the help of her two best friends, Annie has to come up with an awesome contest entry and sort out her love life by the end of the summer. Its called The Secret Ingredient.

      Laura Schaefer is the author, she has also written The Teashop Girls. The Secret Ingredient is the second book in this series. Also, I'm going to be posting some quotes related to tea also taken from this magnificent novel. Here's the first one: 


                        We live in stirring times - tea-stirring times.
                                                          ~Christopher Isherwood

     Really, its a great book, especially since I love baking (although my kitchen is too small). You should try it, I'm sure it will be in any library near you. The author is Laura Schaefer. So, over the days, I'm going to share with you some scone recipes from the book that you could try at home. If your kitchen is big enough of course. Here goes:

 

Chocolate Chip Scones

Ingredients

 2/3 cup of sugar

  2 cups of flour

 1 table spoon of baking powder

 1 cup of mini dark chocolate chips

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 3 tablespoons cold butter

 1 egg

 1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2  tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon secret ingredient*

1/4  cup  whole milk

How to cook

     Preheat your oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Mix sugar, flour, baking powder, mini dark chocolate chips, and salt. Cut in cold butter. In a separate bowl whisk the egg, vanilla, the buttermilk. Slowly at the wet mix to the dry mix and stir to combine until even. Add the secret ingredient. Knead the dough together a few times until the dough is one solid ball. Roll out the dough into a circle, about an inch thick or less. Use cookie cutter to cut out small circles. Place scone circles on a greased cookie tray. Brush with milk. Bake for 15 to 17 min until golden brown. Makes 12 scones. Serve warm!

*I have no idea what the "secret ingredient" is so don't ask me.

We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place.

~Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Parmesan berry scones

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cold butter

1 egg

2/3 cup butter milk

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup strawberries

1/2 teaspoon secret ingredient

1/4 cup whole milk

How to cook

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Mix the dry secret ingredients together first, then cut the butter.
Stir in one beaten egg and add cheese and berries. Add the secret ingredient. Slowly add the buttermilk
to form  a thick dough. You may need slightly more than 2/3 cup. Knead the dough on a board, roll to a
1-inch thickness, and cut the dough into 2-inch  triangles or rounds. Place each scone on a greased cookie sheet and brush the tops with milk. Bake for 12 to 15 min until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes and serve warm. Makes about 12 scones.

Tea was such a comfort

                     ~Edna ST. Vincent Millay

     Many thanks to my brother and sister for so eagerly volunteering to help me type the recipes out. And to my readers: Please read my previous blog entry Swimming, Pizza, and Chubby Bunnies, and also look out for more recipes from The Secret Ingredient. Thank you.