How to Make Ginger Scones

This is a very American scone. It’s big, it’s triangular, it’s rich. Note, however, that it’s possible to do a lot of different things with this dough. I generally favor small scones, and indeed I normally make 12 little triangles with this recipe instead of eight large ones. You can use round cutters if you […]

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Joe’s Baking Trivia

Jenni over at Pastry Methods and Techniques wrote in with this interesting tidbit on Friday: So, get this: pain au chocolate is filled w/chocolate that has seized! This is keen, because it gets melty but doesn’t run all over the world. So, if you ever accidentally seize some chocolate, save for these little guys. 🙂 […]

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Good Morning, Vietnam!

There’s a new doughnut shop opening in Saigon this month, featuring cake doughnuts made with the Joe Pastry recipe! Above is a picture of some of the first production, and I’ll be darned if those don’t look exactly like my doughnuts! I couldn’t be prouder if I was a peacock. Best of luck to you […]

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Well, that’s a problem…

Today is the first very hot day of the year in Louisville, and it seems that increased demand for power has resulted in a blackout, at least in my neighborhood. The scone tutorial will have to wait for Monday.

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A little backup from Italy

Reader Dario, a food scientist from Italy, wrote in with this to say about last week’s agriculture flap: I read your “series” on Pollan and GMO, and I agree with you. I have just finished writing a book on GMOs in Italian to be published in the fall. I know the subject very well and […]

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Not to be argumentative…

…but I’m still getting a fair number of emails from folks about the agriculture posts from last week, a surprising number of them about pesticide use and health. I can’t speak to them with any real authority, and at any rate, I’m more of a GMO man myself (though I should say that many GMO […]

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Who knew?

…that a little thing like the pronunciation of the word “scone” would generate so much email! Since yesterday, people all across the anglosphere (though also from places like Greece and Taiwan) have weighed in on the issue. Most have expressed utter disbelief that there’s any way to pronounce “scone” other than as rhyming with “gone”. […]

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From the halls of academia…

Brownyn from New Zealand submits this from Wikipedia: “The pronunciation of the word across the United Kingdom varies. According to one academic study, nearly two thirds of the British population and 99% of the Scottish population pronounce it as /skɒn/, to rhyme with “con” and “John.” The rest pronounce it /skəʊn/, to rhyme with “cone” […]

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