Leftover sourdough and date scones
Since about a month ago I have another living creature in my home. A sourdough starter, that is. I haven’t given it a name yet. Hearing that some people call their sourdough names like Brutus, I was wondering if I should call it after one of my bosses, who can be very temperamental. A sourdough requires some skill to deal with and it’s a bit trial and error in the beginning. So I thought why not. I still haven’t made up my mind whether it’s such a good idea.
Maybe I am a bit unfair to my sourdough starter, everything I have made so far from it has been successful. I was very pleased with my first bread as well as the first try I had cooking with (what others call) discard, namely pancakes filled with goats cheese, asparagus and olives, drizzled with honey.
As mentioned in my previous post it never occured to me that the sourdough mother that keeps growing as you continue to feed it with flour and water does not have to be thrown away or added to compost (as some suggest). It’s flour, water and lactic acid bacteria. Perfectly good to use and adding another flavour dimension to your baking. Next thing I was inspired to try was making scones with it. I have usually used the recipes from Rose Bakery cookbook for a while and decided to tweak them a little. I have had very good results with their various scone recipes and especially like the one with chopped dates. I thought the tartness of the sourdough would work very well with the sweetness of the dates. However I have reduced the amount of dates asked for in the original recipe.
sourdough date scones
180 g wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice (such as Quatre épices)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
60 g cold butter, cubed
100 g chopped and pitted dates
100 g sourdough starter
60 ml milk
1 egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Mix the dry ingredients and add the butter. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingertips until you have a mix that resembles breadcrumbs or slightly wet sand. Add the chopped dates and mix. Add the sourdough starter and the milk and mix until just incorporated. You don’t want to overwork the dough. If the mixture is too dry add a few more tablespoons of milk until it comes together. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat into a disk or rough rectangle about 2-3 cm thick. Cut out circles of 5 cm with a cookie cutter. Alternatively cut into triangles with a knife. Transfer to the lined baking sheets and brush with the beaten egg. Bake on a middle shelf for about 15 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and serve with butter while still warm.
