foolish_m0rtal | Teatime is kickass once more

I had no idea comm deadlines could be this freaky, because this comm deadline is freaking so much hell out of me, it does not even bear saying. So because of this, I started baking and put together some things for tea. (Instead of the usual microwave coffee and dubious wheat crackers)

Jalapeño and cheddar scones

I made the scones exactly like this person (from now forward called Chef Gorgeous) describes in Smitten Kitchen, which has a lot of interesting recipes and beautiful pictures that make you WANT to go out and bake everything she tells you.

There will be no usual separate post with me describing the parts of the recipe that went wrong and what I did to fix them, because Chef Gorgeous's instructions were dead on, which happens remarkably rarely. I was apprehensive about making the dough because the proportions are usually wrong in most recipes, and the dough is either too watery or falls apart. Nope, it was perfect. Ahh, beautiful. I love when people are amazing.

The only thing with MY scones was after they were baked they came out a bit too flaky and crumbly on the outside, more like American biscuits. While still very delicious, this is not the texture I like with my scones. I like buying them because I can eat them while running out the door and not have to worry about crumbs. Next time I make them, I'm going to see what I can do to make them more compact.

The other thing is that even though 2 jalapeños gave the scones a nice warmth, my mother, being a classic Indian woman and therefore a badass, suggested I put in two more jalapeños next time. While I appreciate spicy food immensely, sometimes I like to keep it from taking centre stage so I can enjoy the other elements of the food.

We shall see if more spice is something I should investigate further. But if you like it not too spicy, I think 2 is pretty good.

Hong-Kong milk tea:

I like my tea strong, and Hong-Kong milk tea is something I made all the time at university because I could just leave it on a low boil on the stove while I worked and then come back in an hour.

This was a quick tea because I wanted to eat the scones slightly warm. I just put it on when I put the scones in the oven, and the tea was done by the time the scones cooled. I did standard preparations for tea (note for non-tea people: a cup of water and a sachet for every person) and let it boil for about 30 minutes till it became a rich dark red colour (I always drink Indian masala chai, but to each his own).

Then I added enough evaporated milk till the tea was the same colour as I saw online (consult above picture, but caution: it also depends on the colour of your tea), a little more than one cup of milk. (The tea is supposed to be very smooth and creamy, so you will probably be adding more milk than you are used to) This tea is also traditionally slightly sweet, so I added two spoons of sugar.

I waited till the milk came to a boil (non-tea people: DON'T go back to your work here. Stay there and stir. Otherwise milk will boil over and give you hell) and then took it off the heat. The tea should be a little thick and creamy. It is best hot, but I have never had it cold. Might be good.

Nom nommed it, and felt immensely better. Teatime. It works, bitches.

EDIT: I had heavy cream left over, so I made the dreamy cream cranberry scones she recommends in the same jalapeño scones post. OH MY GOD, nom nom.