100% Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Pure Vanilla Glaze | Strawberry Shortcake Day

I made these long ago when the strawberry season was at its peak but never got around to posting it. 🙂 Recently I was cleaning up my data & then realized that I totally forgot to blog about them. 🙂

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Then I thought why not schedule for the Strawberry Shortcake Day on 14th June!

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Since January this year, I’ve been making recipes with smaller & simpler helping which are sweet & fattening but moderately so. I am not making them TOO healthy, sugar-free, etc but I’m trying to cut the portion size so that we indulge. But, only a little!

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

So I chose to make shortcake with a twist. I made some strawberry scones as they are similar to a shortcake base!

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

I made a tried & tasted recipe from Smitten Kitchen with some few changes of my own. I added basil leaves. Did I tell you they are my new-found love.

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

I halved the recipe, substituted flour with whole wheat flour & used vanilla glaze for the extra zing and to mimic a shortcake whipped cream. 🙂

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

For sometime, I’ve been meaning to start using The Vanilla Bean. Finally I took the plunge here. I had no idea what the glaze with real vanilla seeds should look like and I am not sure if the seeds should be so clearly visible in a glaze.

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

But what I do know is that we loved it! The taste was real real Vanilla & just perfect to go with the scones.

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Overall I think this was a perfect sweet-after-dinner nights. Just pop one or two with some fresh strawberries, topped with glaze.

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

I would surely like to try these with some more fresh berries of season – may be mulberries, raspberries, blueberries! So many options, so many possibilities!

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Strawberry Shortcake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Recipe Source – minimally adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients –

• 1 Cup – Wheat Flour
• ½ Tbsp – Baking Powder
• 1 ½ Tbsp – Granulated Sugar
• ¼ tsp – Salt
• 3 Tbsps (42.5gms) – Unsalted Butter, chilled & grated using a box grater
• ½ Cup – Ripe strawberries, quartered/ halved
• 1 Tbsp – Basil Leaves, chopped
• ½ Cup – Heavy Cream

Method –

1. Pre-heat oven to 220 C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together.
3. Add butter using a pastry blender, I used my potato masher, breaking it up until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal with tiny pea-sized bits of butter about.
4. Gently stir in strawberries & basil leaves to coat them with dry ingredients.
5. Add in the cream. You can use a rubber spatula to gently lift & turn ingredients over each other. When you have mixed it as best you can with a spatula, knead the dough once or twice only to get one mass. Do not worry about even mixing, it is important not to over-work the batter.
6. Generously flour the counter. With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to the counter. Generously flour the top of the dough. Now using your hands or a rolling-pin, gently press or roll the dough out to a ¾” thickness.
7. Using a floured cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass, pressing straight down. Do not twist as you cut. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet, leaving a couple of inches space between each. You can re-roll the scraps of the dough. The dough may feel slightly dry but it will bake wonderfully once the strawberries release their juices.
8. Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes, until bronzed at the edges & the strawberry juices are trickling out of the scones in places. Cool in the pan for a minute, and then transfer to a cooling rack.
9. When they reach at room temp, pour vanilla glaze. Before pouring, place a rimmed sheet to catch any dripping glaze. Serve fresh with cut strawberries.

Vanilla Glaze

Recipe Source – minimally adapted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients –

• 1-2 Tbsps – Whole Milk
• ½ Cup – Confectioner’s Sugar
• 1 – Vanilla Bean, split & scraped

Method –

1. Split the bean & scrape seeds into the milk. Let it sit in a spouted container such as a pyrex cup for about an hour.
2. Add confectioner’s sugar gradually whisking, until you get desired consistency.
3. Ensure it is not too runny or it won’t dry white on cake and will run off too quickly.
4. Once the scones have cooled, pour over the scones.

Sending this to –

1. Black & White Wednesday # 88 hosted by Sreevalli. BWW is an event started by Susan, now managed by Cinzia.
2. Bake Fest # 20 hosted by My Home Mantra, event strated by Vardhini
3. Sending this to Color Me White photography series by Priya.
4. What’s with my Cuppa 2 by Nupur

How to Make Clarified Butter, Buttermilk, Butter – The Journey of Milk to Chenna Parantha

This is not as easy as it sounds, well atleast for me. How many times I promised V in last 5 yrs that I’ll give you home made butter & how many times it didn’t happen. Like all food items, V loves home made butter & I have only managed to start churning it in the last few months. So ladies like me who struggle with it or would like to learn it, here are few pointers.

Home made Buttermilk, Butter, Ghee, Chenna –

Recipe Source – My Mother

Ingredients –

Full Cream Milk

Curd
Cold Water/ Ice

Method –

1. Boil milk. Allow it to cool down. Don’t touch the top layer of milk. Refrigerate it.
2. After few hours of refrigeration, the top layer will firm into thick cream.
3. Gently remove the cream & store in a separate bowl.

1. 

   Cream/ Malai

2. Repeat this process till you have collected enough quantity of cream. (1 litre boiled milk should give around 250 ml of cream in 7-8 days)
3. Boil the collected cream & allow it to cool little. When it is cooled just enough for setting of curd, add 2 tsp of curd into it and mix well.
4. Allow the cream to set just like curd in a warm place.
5. When the cream is set, refrigerate it.

Buttermilk & Butter – My mother has a special local contraption for churning butter -which is motorised ‘churni’. She has placed it on a big container, ideally use a vessel which gives support at the rim.

Churning Butter

1. Remove the set cream and churn in a blender.
2. After few mins, the cream will start separating and you will see butter. Add little water if required to separate.
3. The butter & milk should be clearly separated.
4. In a wok, take about 1/2 glass of chilled water or ice & remove the butter & put in it.

1. 

   Butter & Buttermilk

2. Quickly rinse of the butter in this water & pour the water in the buttermilk.
3. You can garnish buttermilk with seasoning (ghee, cumin seeds, salt, mint leaves) & serve or plain.
4. Use butter as desired.

Tip –

•   Weather/ Temperature determines this process: In winter like north, use room temp water for all steps. In summer, you would need chilled water or ice for separating & washing.

Ghee/ Chenna–

Clarified Butter & Chenna

1. If you do not wish to use butter for any other use, put this in a wok & allow it to heat.
2. Slowly, the water content will evaporate leaving behind ghee or clarified butter.
3. Residue will dry & become elastic & chewy chenna.
4. Do not allow the chenna to burn or get excessively brown, my mother’s got slightly more brown than desired.
5. Strain the ghee into the desired container. Allow it to cool completely. Use as desired.
6. Remove the chenna from strainer & use it to knead parantha dough. This yields a soft & crumbly parantha with rich taste.
7. Alternatively you can create after meal snack from this chenna by simply adding powdered sugar to it. Kids love it & it becomes a wonderful on the go snack.

You can discard any of the by-product you like but I like being judicious. I guess you can put it on my mom inculcating ‘Don’t waste unnecessarily’. I just love the thought of using a product & all its by-products (milk-curd-cream-butter-buttermilk-ghee-chenna).

Malai Kulfi – Summer at it’s peak

Summers are no time soon getting over and in this hot & humid weather, a nicely set kulfi would do wonders. With this thought in mind I dialed my aunt (mom’s sis)  in Mumbai. Now you would wonder, why I would dial my aunt? The thing is that in Oct 2009, we visited her for a long weekend (i think due to 2nd Oct) and she treated us to yumm home-made kulfis. Mind you I’m not a big fan of home-made ice-creams because I’ve felt that they don’t set well enough with lot of ice-crystals. May be world has changed but I’m yet to try a home-made ice-cream which is perfectly set.

Malai Kulfi

To go back to the kulfi – she served us kulfis and I bit into it with all apprehension waiting for ice-crystals to hit me. But there came none! WOW!!! And V being V, ate them like a glutton, aaarrgghhhhhhhh! And started pestering me to take recipe from her and make more at home. Well to tell the truth, I wanted to do the same :D. So the phone call to her. The recipe she gave me was simple and very-very easy to make, except for borrowing a deep wok from neighbor I was set to roll or freeze or chill or whatever!

Malai Kulfi –

Recipe Source – My aunt

Ingredients – Makes 18-20 kulfis

• 2 ltr – Full Cream Milk
• 1 tin – Condensed Milk (400g)
• 4 tbsp – Coarsely Ground Cashew
• 1 tsp – Cardamom Powder

Method –

1. Reduce the milk to half the quantity.
2. When it is reduced, add condensed milk & heat for another minute or so. Allow it to cool.
3. When cool, add cashew & cardamom powder. Blend well with a whisk.
4. Pour into moulds or ice-cream tins for setting.
5. Set in freezer overnight.
6. De-mould & serve chilled. Garnish using chopped pistachio.

This is the simplest recipe ever. With no GMS etc been added – just perfect kulfi! I’m planning to visit her again next month for a long weekend (15th Aug) and am already anticipating what goodies she will serve us. She is a good cook and I love food served and made by others – I get a holiday. Unpaid cooks like me, enjoy this break I guess!

Thandai – Rich Milky Milkyway!

Summers always mean rich dry fruit & sugar syrup – commonly known as thandai in our household. Since making it at home is a very cumbersome process, it is now-a-days bought ready-made in most homes. You must be wondering why dry-fruits in summer. Well it is commonly acknowledged & accepted fact – dry-fruits if soaked overnight & then consumed, loose their heat properties & rather become cooler in nature. Upon this principle thandai has been made and consumed over the years.

Thandai – Cool

The reason I ventured into making thandai at home was due to my mother-in-law’s illness last year. She was not allowed to consume outside food and needed the extra sugar, energy and coolness which will come with thandai, for her speedy recovery. So I sailed in uncharted waters. Last year was a success which kind of pushed me 😉 into make it again this year :). After aam ka panna this is again from my mother’s recipe box.

Thandai –

Recipe Source – My Mother

Ingredients –

• 25 gms – Musk Melon Seeds
• 25 gms – Water Melon Seeds
• 25 gms – Poppy Seeds
• 25 gms – Almond
• 5 gms – White Pepper
• 10 gms – Fennel Seeds (Thin variety)
• 5-7 – Green Cardomom
• 10 gms – Rose Leaves
• 100 ml – Kevra Water
• 1.5 kgs – Sugar
• 500 ml – Water

Method –

1. Soak all ingredients  separately overnight in Kevra water, except sugar.
2. Remove almond skin.
3. Now using a mortar & pestle, grind all ingredients into a fine paste. Grind little of all ingredients together rather than one ingredient at a time. This ensures a finer paste.

1. 

   Thandai – in Process

2. Keep the paste aside.
3. In a wok, add water & sugar. Boil till all sugar melts.
4. Add the paste slowly into it. Ensure no lumps are formed. Mix well.
5. Turn off gas once the sugar melts & just before reaches the stage of 1 thread syrup.

1. 

   Thandai – Sugar Syrup

2. When cool, store in an air-tight container.
3. Serve in chilled milk. No need to add extra sugar in milk. Enjoy!

If kept refrigerated it will last for 7-10 days easily.

Thandai – Milkyway

This is one drink, which makes me forget the extra calories of sugar, dry fruits in it. This is a rich drink and really really leaves one feeling cool after a sip. Do try this.