Carla and Ina Garten Make Chocolate-Pecan Scones

On this episode of drunk baking with Ina.

[laughing]

[jazzy music]

Hey, I'm Carla and I'm here in the BA test kitchen today

with not just a queen but the contessa.

Ina Garten is here today

and she's gonna make chocolate pecan scones

from her new book Cook Like a Pro.

I thought you were gonna make them.

No, I'm just gonna stand by.

It's gonna be amazing.

It's like one of my favorite things

to make actually 'cause there's a little technique

in the middle of it that makes all the difference

between hockey pucks and light, flakey scones.

Yeah, we need to talk about why, how is a scone

not a biscuit and why do people

talk so much crap about scones?

[Ina laughing]

People say terrible-- Do they?

Oh, people say terrible things about scones.

Well, 'cause they usually taste like hockey pucks.

And they shouldn't. Right, and they say like

they're giant flour balls

and like they're door stoppers.

But these are not gonna be that.

All right, so let's start.

First thing's first.

One of the points that you make in the book

that I think is so smart is people don't

read recipes all the way through.

That's one thing that's super important,

especially with baking.

People don't read recipes, period.

But all the way through is another problem.

People read the ingredient list and then they're like

I think I get it. You just quick make it.

Mix it up.

But also how to measure.

So one of the first ingredients is flour.

Exactly.

So show us how, or show me how you--

So this is how I measure flour.

You know, like your mother or your grandmother

used to sift it so that each cup of flour

had exactly the same amount of flour in it.

But what I do instead,

is I just lighten the flour in the flour bin

just like that.

And then very carefully scoop it

and just level it off with your finger.

Got it.

So much easier. Do you want these

for leveling?

No, just your finger's fine.

Great and that so the difference is like

you're not packing it in. You're not packing it in.

'Cause if I were to go like that,

you could see you could get much more flour

into that if it was packed.

And that makes all the difference in the world.

All the difference in the world.

In a baking.

So we need four cups of flour.

Great, okay, cool.

Okay, so right into the mixer.

Well you do that.

I'll do the same thing with--

Three tablespoons.

There's also flour that goes into this pecan

and chocolate mixture, right?

And do you know what that does?

No, I wanted to ask you.

It keeps it from sinking to the bottom.

Okay, so that's four cups of flour.

Okay, so you're in charge of pecans.

Okay, so this is another thing.

So the recipe says one cup pecans comma chopped.

I think it says one cup of chopped pecans.

Oh, oh, you're right.

Which is interesting because--

It's your recipe.

So one cup of pecans chopped means

you level off the cup of pecans

and then you chop them,

which is actually different from one cup

of chopped pecans.

And then should I measure after I chopped them?

Measure it after their chopped.

Exactly. Okay.

And how do you want these chopped?

Just rough chopped.

Rough chop.

You know the way you kinda want them in a scone.

Chunky?

Yeah.

Okay, so and now I'm gonna put in

two tablespoons of sugar.

I like them a little sweet but not really sweet.

So two tablespoons of baking powder,

and four teaspoons of salt,

the most important ingredient.

Okay, so I'm gonna put the mixer on.

I'm just gonna mix the dry ingredients together here.

Just mix it low.

[mixer humming]

[Carla] This is more like a pastry dough where you have

cold butter going into flour

as opposed to--

[Ina] Yes.

[Carla] Salt and butter that you cream for a cookie.

[Ina] Exactly.

Talk to me about the Lindt chocolate.

You know, I've used Lindt bittersweet chocolate

for a long time and recently we thought

do we still like Lindt as much as we did?

And we got like six different kinds of chocolate

and did a blind tasting.

It was the Lindt that we still liked.

Really?

It was just the right balance of sweet and bitter.

You can still see the butter in this,

in kinda big pieces.

You wanna let it keep going on low speed

until the butter's like the size of peas

but absolutely not incorporated.

Right.

It should still--

And if the butter as too soft it would kind of

smash down right away.

That's exactly right.

All right, cool.

And in the meantime, I have a cup of heavy cream

and four extra large eggs.

I always use extra large eggs.

Yeah, so that's interesting to me too.

We use large here and I feel like people

don't know how much more liquid

is involved in an extra large.

My assistant said to me once

when she started using extra large eggs,

her baking got better.

I thought--

Really? What else do you need

to know?

Exactly.

Okay, so I'm just gonna stop this

and see how it's doing.

I'm just looking for the butter being mixed up

like the size of peas.

See, it looks pretty good.

Maybe a little large but by the time

you get the cream in--

I think it's better in this sense to err

on the side of bigger than smaller.

Right. You can't go back.

While the mixture's going,

I just pour this in and that's it.

Just until it's just mixed.

That's it.

That's really like barely--

There's still floury pockets, okay.

I'm distracted you guys.

Could you please chop faster?

[laughing]

Be more faster.

You know it's interesting because all the modern

kitchen designs have a counter

and then with cabinets go straight down.

And I'm like they've missed the point of the counter.

If there's an overlap, you can just do like that,

which you do all day.

Exactly, instead of the front of your drawers.

Exactly.

All right, so I'm just tossing this

with my hands to coat. Perfect.

And actually that's the extra flour that I need in there.

And there's another phrase in this recipe

that really got me to stop and take notice,

which was you mentioned chocolate puddles.

Yeah.

I don't think that those are two words

that I ever heard back-to-back in a recipe before.

But it was quite appealing.

Yeah, you want little puddles of chocolate

in this.

Puddles of chocolate.

[Ina] Okay, that's the dough.

Just mixed the chocolate pecan scones.

Could you eat the dough-- Barely a mess.

[Ina] Just like that?

Yeah.

Before the scones comes out,

we're gonna flour this surface

which is not marble but we roll out on this

all the time. Yeah, it's great.

And it's cold, so it's perfect.

Are you a professional at doing that?

I wouldn't say I'm a professional

but I learned how to do-- The flick?

Instead of just the dump,

do the like side's eye.

Oh, that's great.

That's really good 'cause the scones are very wet.

So you really want a good amount of flour.

And do you like to flour you pin as well.

I do, I like that one.

Do you use that one?

So, I used to always use this,

which is technically a French pin, right?

It's got the tapered edges.

I feel like I got it more uneven,

because I feel like I use the edge.

Let's use this one. No, no, no, but if this--

No, I wanna used that one.

All right, cool. I'm with you.

And this to me is like

it doesn't matter-- I wanna do everything

you do.

This is crazy guys.

I feel like if I use the edge of the pin

then it's still flat. Yeah, that's smart.

And do you wanna flour this too?

Yes.

Okay, all right.

So I'm gonna dump out the dough.

How good does this look? Could you just eat the dough

like this-- I could eat that

just like that.

But then we wouldn't have puddles.

That's right.

We gotta get to puddle stage.

[Ina laughing]

[Ina] So are we gonna use a Bon Appetite--

[Carla] No, no, I think the Ina.

Yeah, I wanna use the Ina spat today.

Awesome.

Okay, here we go.

So, I'm just--

There's always a part of the dough right

at the bottom that doesn't get mixed in

so I always turn it just to make sure

it's well-mixed.

Here we go for the dump, you ready?

I'm ready.

Dump.

See, there's a lot on the bottom

so we'll just mix it in.

But you wanna do this fast

because you don't want the butter to get warm.

Right.

Are you cold-handed person?

[Ina] Not particularly.

[Carla] No.

What's the story about hot hands?

Well I went to culinary school with a guy

who had, he just technically had hot hands.

[Ina] Literally?

He couldn't, it was like trying to learn--

[talking over each other]

The poor guy was trying to learn how to make

like pat sucre and it just would turn

into soup every time.

And we finally figured out-- Poor guy.

he just had hot hands. Hot hands.

That's right.

Okay, so we need it about 3/4 of an inch thick

and we need a--

Do you wanna use, do you wanna be precise?

Yeah, sure, why not.

I love a ruler.

I work with a ruler. It's a little over.

[Ina] Little over.

[Carla] Little over an inch but--

[Ina] Okay, so let's do it a little more.

[Carla] Okay, great.

So we'll get more scones.

Three inch cutter.

Three inch cutter.

And do you flour this too?

I do too.

I flour everything, including myself.

[laughing]

Okay, and then you have-- And the cabinets.

sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Yes, ma'am.

These are a little thick but you know

they'll be really good, right?

More puddles.

So, okay.

You didn't twist.

Is there a twist that I don't know?

You're doing the press down

and shake to loosen but I've read

that if you do twist--

What happens?

You can pinch down all those nice layers

that you wanna make. Yeah, I wouldn't do that.

'Cause it's like almost compresses the edge.

Super delicate,

the back and forth.

I think I get very overzealous.

And they're a little thicker

but I think they're gonna be really good.

That's okay, I don't think anyone's gonna complain.

No, you don't think so 'cause scones are bigger.

Nope.

I've never had any complaining so far.

The scones are too big.

And there's too much chocolate in them.

And there are too many puddles.

[Carla] And this little crack doesn't concern you

in any way?

No.

No.

Should it?

Me neither, no.

I think it's good to see that the dough doesn't

have to be homogenous.

And what it really means when it isn't homogenous.

And it's gonna give maybe more of a craggy surface.

Exactly.

They're gonna have character.

Yeah, by now a small child or a grown-up

would definitely be in the kitchen eating raw dough.

Okay, how's that?

So we got a dozen out of it. They look amazing.

Fabulous. Great, great.

All right, so let's do this bench scraper.

Do you love a big bench scraper?

Love those.

And are you a metal bench scraper person?

Exactly that one.

Yeah, some people like the plastic.

We've written about the plastic.

They're all fine but I think metal is better.

Here, if you step back.

I will go into the magic.

Now that's great.

Trash can right there.

That works.

That works.

[laughing]

So the next thing I do,

is I wanna make sure the tops are really nicely

browned when they bake.

Add a little egg wash,

which is egg and it can be cream or half and half

or milk or water.

Just do a little.

[Carla] And that's for browning and shiny?

And it just makes it look delicious.

And then I've got sugar.

Little sprinkling of sugar on the top

just to give it a little bit of a sweet crust.

'Cause there's not much sugar in this.

There's only two tablespoons in the entire recipe.

Right, and all that salt.

And all the salt, yeah, exactly.

But there's you know the chocolate has sugar.

Right, if I had a course sugar like

sugar in the raw demerara.

I would do that, that would be wonderful.

Great, okay.

So just like that.

Okay, into the oven 400 degrees for 20 minutes

and we're gonna switch the pans halfway through

so they bake really evenly.

Great.

I don't know if I can wait that long.

It's going to be a long 20 minutes.

That's the almost the exact length of a show.

Exactly.

Just put on a show.

And do you wanna separate them

If they're right on top, it's okay?

Okay, cool.

I'm gonna flip front to back, top to bottom.

Perfect.

And I feel like this is another thing that people think--

Oh, my lady. Look at those.

Are they big enough?

[Carla] Not enough puddles

[Ina] Not enough puddles of chocolate.

[Carla] I don't know.

Chocolate overfloweth.

Wow. Wow.

Okay, and why is this important?

Those are the biggest scones I've ever seen.

You can see that it's brown on one side

and that was facing back.

So it really makes a difference.

And then these ones are a lot paler.

Right, exactly.

And that's 'cause they were,

the heat is coming from the bottom

of the oven, I'm guessing.

I think I spun those. Perfect.

Pretty sure.

[Ina] They look pretty good, huh?

All right, see ya in ten.

Okay, see ya in ten.

[Ina] So what's goin' on over here?

Do you like mezcal Ina?

I don't know.

I've never had mezcal.

[Ina] Is this turkey?

Yeah, Molly's cooking some turkey parts.

Oh, yes, I'm making--

Oh my God, that smells so good.

So wish you were here.

This is what you guys do for a living?

[laughing]

Isn't it unbelievable?

It's the best job in the world.

And you eat your homework.

That's the best part of it.

I make Thanksgiving dinner

and then I make another Thanksgiving dinner

for them to take home.

Yeah, the lime note is very strong.

I'm wondering if it needs one other thing

like a little sweetness.

Very thoughtful of you.

Why thank you.

I'm the one who's like hiding the turkey

being like no.

Cut 'em off.

No leftovers.

The best way to taste cocktails.

They're like little baby ladles.

Oh, really?

I think the best way to test cocktails

is just like that.

Morro morro and you kept,

you muted that.

Cheers.

If I drink any more of that

I won't be able to take the scones out of the oven.

All right, we're gonna check on these.

So I'm looking for-- Golden brown.

And puddles.

Puddles but also your looking for

when you touch it, it springs back.

Oh, okay.

That's how you know when it's done.

Those look pretty good, don't they?

[Carla] These look really nice.

[Ina] We're talking big puddles.

[Carla] I feel like this is a nice--

Oh yeah, they're not holding.

[Ina] Yup, perfect.

The rotating really worked.

Because they're evenly browned.

They're super even brown and front to,

you know, on both sides.

Fantastic.

I think we nailed it.

For sure.

Okay, which one do you wanna test?

Well, which one's the guy that you loved to flip?

The flakey.

His lift.

He's gonna be really hot.

[Carla] Mm.

How flakey that is inside.

And there's like the perfect cross-section

of the pecans too.

[Ina] Exactly.

[Carla] Yes.

[Ina] How's that?

[Carla] Those look great.

[Ina] You gonna try?

Yeah, why wait for them to cool off?

You know what I mean? I don't know.

[Carla] Yum.

Lidy who works with me always says I have

an asbestos tongue.

I can eat anything right out of the oven.

Wow.

And chocolatey.

And it doesn't taste salty. It's a cloud.

But it's perfectly seasoned, right?

It is so light and it's like the best part

of a warm chocolate chip cookie with a nut

but the texture is like moist and light

at the same time.

Yeah, these would change any person

who thinks a scone is deadened or leaden.

Converted.

No door stoppers here.

No door stoppers.

And with big chocolate puddles.

Aye aye aye, show stoppers, not door stoppers.

Thank you for coming. This was really fun.

[kissing]

Really fun.

Thank you so much.

That's a scone revelation.

Why thank you.

I'll make scones with you anytime.

Come back anytime.

You're a sconespert.

[Ina laughs]

These are really good you guys.

Yum.

And these are all for Carla and me.

And we'll make some more for you later.