Making food from scratch tastes better.
Duh.
But often times, the ingredients we use to make things from scratch aren’t homemade. To no fault of our own — making each ingredient every single time would be entirely too time consuming, if not impossible. But when given the chance, I like to try and make as many things from scratch as I can.
Take these whole wheat ricotta scones for example. While I could have used store-bought ricotta, I thought it would be fun to make my own — something I’d never done. And when digging for recipes, I was shocked at how easy it was and wondered why I’d never made my own before. Not only that, but the end product was amazingly creamy and delicious — way better than any store-bought ricotta I’d ever tried. I can’t wait to make this recipe over and over again.
As far as the scones are concerned, don’t let the whole wheat flour fool you — they’re super tender, flaky and delicious. In fact, I think the whole wheat flour gives them a hearty, nutty flavor which is a nice twist on the traditional scone. And as for the homemade ricotta? Well, I didn’t do an official taste test, but I’d be willing to bet that it made the scones taste that much better.
Whole Wheat Ricotta Scones
From Smitten Kitchen
What you need:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes
- 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta (see recipe below)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
How you do it:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together.
- Using a pastry cutter (or your hands!), add the cubed butter to the flour and work until the mixture is coarse and mealy.
- Add the ricotta and heavy cream and firmly fold the mixture together using a stiff spatula until it begins to form a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a well-floured counter, and kneed until everything has come together. The fewer kneeds the better, as the more you work the dough, the stiffer it’ll become — making for a tougher end product.
- Pat the dough into a 7″x7″ square that’s about 1-inch tall. With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 even squares. Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet, and bake for about 15 minutes or until the scones are lightly golden at the edges. Cool on the pan for a minute or two, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 20 minutes as they’ll continue to set as they cool.
Rich Homemade Ricotta (yields about one cup)
From Smitten Kitchen
What you need:
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Special equipment: Cheesecloth
How you do it:
- Pour the milk, cream and salt into a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. If you have a candy thermometer, heat the milk to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from scorching. If you don’t, bring the mixture to a simmer and let it simmer for about three minutes. When it’s ready, it’ll start to look foamy.
- Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, then stir the mixture gently a few times. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
- Line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour or until the desired consistency is reached. Serve immediately or store in the fridge in an airtight container. (Note: If storing for later, the ricotta will firm up even more when refrigerated.)
