FFWD - Mustard and the United Nations of Bâtons

'Allo, 'allo, what 'ave we 'ere? That's a whole lot of puff pastry bâtons for this week's French Fridays with Dorie's recipe cook-along. Actually, the recipe in the book called for just Mustard Bâtons, but then Dorie's bonne idée section led me astray. As in, waaay astray... My imagination got the better of me and everyone in the house ended up feasting on a bâton buffet.

Now, Dorie herself admits that she uses storebought puff pastry every time she makes these. I, on the other hand, have a bucket list of to dos that includes free-falling from the sky, swimming in the ocean with sharks and hmm, making puff pastry. The other two are doable, done even, but making my own puff pastry from scratch.... I had never been too sure if I could pull it off. It may have something to do with all the butter, the rubix-cube folds and the waiting time involved - I would simply go mad!

But I went ahead and did it, anyway. In the least painful way possible. As luck would have it, I found this link on how to make the 'quickest puff pastry' that took me all of 5 minutes to put together and roll (but still needed to chill it in the fridge for an hour before using). That sounded more like it. Lo-and-behold... I managed to produce these really cute, gnome-like bâtons below. It was my test run with puff pastry-making, and while it did rise and produce the layers, it hadn't risen as much as I had hoped. A quick text message to Diva D to "please pick up some puff pastry on your way home, mwaah!" later, and I was ready to play.

My 'junior' bâtons out of homemade puff pastry....more flaky than puffy.

I started off with the mustard bâtons recipe but soon graduated to making other savory combinations and finally, ventured into sweet bâtons. The recipe for mustard bâtons here isn't so much a recipe as it is a set of instructions. I am not at liberty to share it with you but you can find it in the book, Around My French Table or I found an official link here.

My United Nations of Bâtons

Alors, here are my versions! (Click on images to enlarge)

SAVORY BATONS

Mustard with Lavender Salt Bâtons

2 T mustard

1 T sea salt

1/4 t lavender flowers (dried)

Sprinkles: Nigella seeds (or blackseeds)

How to: Chop or blend the sea salt and lavender together until fine, stir into the mustard and spread. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle Nigella seeds on top before baking.

Mustard with Shallot Bâtons
2 T mustard
1 T red shallots, chopped finely
Sprinkles: Shredded Nori (seaweed)
How to: Stir chopped shallots into the mustard, and spread. Take a small sheet of Nori and shred or cut into tiny ribbons with scissors. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle Nori on top before baking.

Basil Pesto with Pumpkin Seeds Bâtons
Sprinkles: Pumpkin seeds
How to: Follow the pesto recipe in Dorie’s book (pg. 488) but substitute pumpkin seeds for the pine nuts. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle more pumpkin seeds on top before baking.

Chilli and Garlic Bâtons
3 large, red chillies
3 cloves garlic
1 T sugar
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sprinkles: Cumin seeds
How to: Grind chillies, garlic and sugar together, then drizzle in the olive oil. Add cheddar cheese and blend until well distributed. Season with salt and pepper, then spread on pastry. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle cumin on top before baking.

Hah! I forgot to take a picture of the sesame batons so here's the actual sesame spread (middle)...

Sesame Bâtons
4 T sesame powder or seeds

1 T chopped ginger
1 T olive oil
1 T black soy sauce
Sprinkles: Sesame seeds
How to: Grind sesame and ginger, then drizzle in the olive oil and soya sauce. Blend for a few more seconds, then spread on pastry. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle sesame seeds on top before baking.

  SWEET BATONS

Nutella with Chilli Bâtons
2 T Nutella
1/4 t chilli or paprika powder
Sprinkles: Chilli powder
How to: Really? Is there a need? :-)

Nutella with Macadamia Bâtons
2 T Nutella
2 T macadamia nuts, chopped finely
Sprinkles: Chopped macadamia nuts

Banana and Palm Sugar Bâtons
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 T grated palm sugar
Sprinkles: Shredded coconut ribbons
How to: Spread the mashed banana onto the pastry and sprinkle palm sugar all over it. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle coconut ribbons on top before baking.

Dragonfruit and Lemon Bâtons

2 T dragonfruit flesh, mashed

1 T lemon zest

Sprinkles: Cinnamon sugar

How to: Spread the mashed dragonfruit onto the pastry and sprinkle lemon zest all over it. Brush eggwash on pastry and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before baking.

Phew, that was a long one! I'm passing the baton on to you now. Check out what the other Doristas over at French Fridays with Dorie have under (or inside) their bâtons!

International Incident Party - Rockin' Pink and Purple Scones!

This marks the first time I am participating in the International Incident Party (IIP), the theme of which this month is “Scones”. It also marks the first time I made scones – ever - so I was truly excited and crossed my fingers that everything would go as planned! This monthly event is normally hosted by Penny from Jeroxie - Addictive & Consuming although this time, there are two other co-hosts: Anh from A Food Lover's Journey and Cherrie from Sweet Cherrie Pie. August is also the month when these two ladies celebrate their birthdays, so these colorful scones are especially dedicated to them. Happy Pyschedelic Birthday, Cherrie and Anh!

Okay, scones… where the heck do I start? There are so many recipes out there and they all seem simple enough to follow, but what about flavors? Yes, also too many that had already been tried and tested. Hmm… I wanted to wander off the beaten path just a little, maybe experiment with newer flavors. Or maybe colors! Hence I came up with these really pretty, as well as pretty tasty, Purple Sweet Potato Scones and Pink Dragonfruit Scones. Nooow, we are ready to PAR-TAY!

"Purple" Sweet Potato Scones.
No, don't adjust your monitor! LOL.

Fuschia pink Dragonfruit Scones!

What I had originally pictured in my mind were some delightfully romantic pink and purple color-coordinated scones. What actually came out (dastard chemistry!), were pink and purple-green scones…. Errm, the purple sweet potato had cooked to a greenish, matcha-like color and I wasn’t sure whether that was due to the added salt, or roasted dessicated coconut, or baking soda or even heat. It basically just turned on me, but after the initial shock, I got used to the mysterious hues of the scones. They were actually quite exotic, both in looks and taste. The bi-colored sesame seeds added some extra interest (as if there wasn’t already enough of it!). These scones were slightly drier in texture than the juicy dragonfruit ones, so I ate mine drenched in a little dulce de leche. You could also have them with some butter and jam or yes, condensed milk!

Dulce de leche on sweet potato-coconut flavors. Yuhmm!

The dragonfruit scones, thank heavens, stayed true to their color. In fact, when I finished glazing them, the fuschia-pink scones (naturally tinted) looked really mesmerizing! I took a bite, and the soft, crumbly moist texture made me go owhhh… Like a vampire, I was in love at first bite. Happily-ever-after kind of fairytale ending.

Do check out what the other party-goers made for this event by scrolling right down to the bottom of this page!

Purple Sweet Potato Scones

Makes 6 scones

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup + 1/3 cup extra, cooked, mashed and cooled purple sweet potato

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon roasted, dessicated coconut

pinch of nutmeg powder

eggwash, for glazing

black and white sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200oC/400oF and line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

2. Peel and slice the purple sweet potatoes and steam for 10-15 minutes. Mash and cool before using.
3. In a bowl, whisk butter and sugar until creamy, then add salt and beat in the egg.

4. Mix in the mashed sweet potato until just combined, but do not over mix.

L: Purple sweet potato                                                           R: Roasted, dessicated coconut (store-bought)

5. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and mix in the coconut and nutmeg. Add this to the sweet potato mixture. Dough should be soft but not sticky. Add more flour if necessary to reach this consistency.

6. Turn dough out onto floured surface and gently knead in the extra mashed sweet potato 2-3 times. Shape into a 1-inch thick flat, round circle and cut into six triangular scones. Brush tops with eggwash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon milk) to give scones a shiny glaze when cooked. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
7. Place scones on baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes until tops are light, golden brown. Serve with jam or condensed milk/dulce de leche while still warm!

Uncooked and cooked scones. Go figure...

Pink Dragonfruit Scones

Makes 6 scones

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup dragonfruit flesh, diced into 1/2- inch chunks

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dragonfruit glaze:

1 tablespoon dragonfruit puree

1 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk butter and sugar until creamy, then add salt and beat in the egg.

3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and add to the butter mixture. Dough should be soft but not sticky. With your fingers, knead in the dragonfruit chunks lightly, making sure that you don’t press too hard or the fruit juice will start to seep out. Work quickly, and transfer the dough to the baking tray. (Note: Since dragonfruit is one juicy mama, I figured the flour needed some extra help rising and therefore enlisted the help of double-acting baking powder. It worked!)

Pretty in pink - uncooked scone

Before glazing

4. Once on the tray, shape the dough into a 1-inch thick flat, round circle and cut into six triangular scones. Separate scones, leaving a space of 2-inches in between each.

5. Bake for 15 minutes until tops are light, golden brown. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. If you try to lift them up while they are still hot, the scones are fragile and likely to crumble and fall apart.

6. Prepare glaze by mixing the melted butter with icing sugar and dragonfruit puree, then add milk slowly to reach a glazing consistency. Spoon glaze onto cooled scones and serve.