Corn Chilly Cheddar Scones

When the IFBM and Freedom Tree threw in a baking with corn contest, I decided to throw a brunch potluck party Iron Chef style. The secret ingredient was corn! My neighbours very sweetly dished out some pasta and baked veggie dishes. I decided to make a corn frittata and these delightful Corn Chilly Cheddar scones. I followed a recipe by Pioneer Woman but added corn to the mix.

The dough for scones is very much like that of a pie crust. The butter needs to be ice cold- you cannot over work the dough or the gluten in the flour will be activated. Its the major difference between crumbly and flaky. Scones, Ive had coffee shops usually feel dumpy, doughy and disgusting. So I stuck to the measures provided in her recipe which yielded around 50 small scones. Gobbled over a span of two days. 

INGREDIENTS

3.5 cups of flour

85 gms of unsalted butter chilled

85 gms of salted butter chilled (Since we have cheese in this recipe- we don’t want to over salt the dough)

One corn off the cob- de-corned with running a knife along the length of the cob

6-7 large chillies sliced thinly in rings. These are not as picante as the small ones and have a marvellous fragrance when baked

A nice hunk of sharp or smoky cheddar say 200gms

1tbsp baking soda

1tsp salt

½ cup milk

½ cup cream

1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1. Start with cutting the chilled butter into tiny cubes of ¼”
2. Toss them in the flour. Use your hands to coat the butter with flour and slowly break them into pallets. Make sure you do not knead the flour. Only coat and toss. Also if the butter seems to melt- put the mixture back in the freezer for 20 min or so. But it’s important the butter is ice cold.
3.  Cut the cheddar into ¼” cubes
4. Now toss the corn, cheddar and chillies into the flour. What you should have is crumbly dough.
5. In a bowl whisk together the egg, milk and cream. Add some salt and pepper.
6. Add the egg mix slowly into the dough. Use a spatula to mix the dough together. Its important not to overwork the dough and knead it as that would activate the gluten in the dough thus killing all attempts of flakiness.
7. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. (can do over night as well.
8. Powder the counter with flour and roll out the dough.
9. Work out wards in single long strokes. Do not – I repeat do not do the back and forth dough dance. We are not making chappatis here.
10. Roll out the dough into a long rectangular shape around 6” in width.
11. With your hand align the edges to get a nice rectangle form.
12.  With a sharp knife cut into 3” x 3” squares.
13.  Further cut along the diagonals to get nice right angle triangles. (This will be a fun task for the kids)
14. Butter a baking sheet. Arrange the triangles neatly into fun patterns, leaving enough space for the cheese to melt out into. Oh yes! The cheddar will out as the scones bake.
15. Bake in a preheated oven at 190-degree Celsius for about 17 minutes. At 17 minutes check to see if more time is needed- this will depend on your oven.
16. Be prepared to have your home filled with the aroma of baking cheese and corn and chilies. It will work up everyone’s appetite.
17. I baked the scones in batches of two. One for the brunch. I kept the remainder dough in the fridge cut in triangles. These baked into even flakier scones. Highly recommend doing this process a day or so before baking.
18. Serve by themselves or with a nice chutney or sriracha sauce or make a meal out of it and serve with a bowl of piping hot chilli stew. I did all of the above. These scones were such a wonderful snack that-  Its. All. Gone. 

Coat the butter with the flour. Slice the cheddar in cubes and toss in the flour

De- corn off the cob

Toss the corn and chilies in the flour

Add milk, cream and 1 egg

Stir with a spatula

And bring it together into a mound of flour

Roll the dough into a 1/2" thick rectangle and cut into squares

Cut the squares into neat triangles

Place neatly on a baking tray

Bake 190 degrees C for 17 min. Look at the cheese oozing and bubbling

Beautifully baked scone. The cheddar has melted making room for freshly baked corn and chilies

Drizzle some melted butter on the hot scones

Look at all those beautiful layers. So flaky and buttery and cheesy and corny and chilly. 

Another round of scones - the surface is just like puff pastry

Eat with a bowl of hot chilli. Look at that flaky surface with the corn peeping out. Remarkable! If I may say so myself !

This bowl of rainy day chilli stew and hot hot scones from the oven goes so well with this fantastic mash up for Glee. Listen to this song as you eat these scrumptious babies. Also how gorgeous is Gwen Paltrow.