- Melissa Sprenne
- Wednesday, March 08, 2023
Do you want to test out your technique before you invest in the tools to make various loaves, biscuits, and scones? Richland Library Ballentine has you covered with our Bread & Scone Kit, which can be found in our Library of Things! Keep reading to see how this kit can be used in real life.
Kit Includes:
- 2 9.5" x 12" Loaf Pans
- 1 Braided Loaf Pan
- 1 Proofing Basket and 1 Embosser
- 1 Scone Pan
- 1 Mini-Scone Pan
- 1 5-piece Biscuit Cutter Set
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- 2 10" x 15" wire cooling racks
- 2 oven mitts
I had so much fun using this kit! I'd never actually made scones before nor had I used such a fancy loaf pan and this kit gave me the perfect opportunity to attempt both kinds of baking without having to purchase such lovely bakeware myself. My mother graciously allowed me to use her kitchen for this baking spree, since mine is much too small to efficiently bake so many things at once. Her baking advice was invaluable!
My Mom's kitchen island, covered with all of the ingredients and materials to bake four different recipes - it was fantastic chaos! And that is, indeed, my amazing Momma in the background.
First, I had to decide on which recipes to make. Full disclosure: When cooking, I generally treat recipes as suggestions and not as things to follow to the letter. Baking is a little different than general cooking, in that there's far more chemistry involved, but I still substituted ingredients. Helpful hint! If you're going to replace a less-melty cheese (like Parmesan or feta) with a very-melty cheese (like Fontina or Muenster) in a recipe, use a little less than is called for. Otherwise, it'll likely overflow out of your mini-scone pan like molten lava and get all over your mom's oven... Oooops!
It was very hard to narrow down my choices to just four, but I managed. I wanted a range - two savory and two sweet. Keep reading to see what I chose and how it went.
Braided Loaf Pan - Strawberry Bread
Recipe: Tastes of Lizzy T
The dough for this quick bread is very loose. Don't forget to lightly coat the fruit with flour so the pieces won't sink to the bottom of the pan. And definitely grease it! Otherwise, the bread may stick to the many nooks and crannies. I chose this recipe for this particular pan because I wanted to see if the fruit would stick to the sides despite greasing it.
But it came out perfectly! Nothing stuck to the braided loaf pan. The crust was a lovely crispness and it's just beautiful to look at.
The fruit was distributed throughout and didn't sink. The glaze clung nicely to all the hollows. As I don't like overly sweet things, I used just a third of the amount the recipe made to glaze this strawberry bread.
Not to worry, though! The strawberry glaze keeps well in the fridge. About a week after my baking spree, I made some mini-chocolate chip scones and dipped half of each in the glaze. Strawberries and chocolate for the win!
Scone Pan - Lemony Blueberry Scones
Recipe: Alexandra's Kitchen
On the right, you can see the full-sized scone pan filled with lemony blueberry goodness. On the left is one of my mom's baking sheets with the same dough, but as drop scones. The recipe just made so much dough! I couldn't waste it. Also, I wanted to see if there was any difference in baking them both ways. I also wasn't sure, since the recipe wasn't specifically for a scone pan, if a recipe for drop scones would work in a pan.
Success! I definitely would not overfill this pan and maybe I'd even use just a little less dough in each well. They came out so soft yet just the perfect kind of crusty. Delicious!!
The drop scones also turned out well, though they did spread a little more than I expected.
Loaf Pan - Savory Cheese Bread
Recipe: King Arthur Baking Company
It doesn't look like much, but this ball of dough has a lot of cheese liberally sprinkled thoughout! This is one recipe where I did deviate from the stated ingredients. Instead of sharp cheddar, I used Excalibur Double Gloucester with onion and chives. I also used Parmesan instead of the cheddar powder.
I spread some salted butter over the top while it was still warm. Such golden brown perfection.
It doesn't look like there's cheese in this but it definitely tasted like cheese and herbs. It turned out of the loaf pan with no sticking. Spread with some herbed butter, each slice was a bite of soft cheesy heaven!
Mini Scone Pan - Savory Olive Cheese Scones
Recipe: Kitchen Confidante
I greased this pan, too, because I was concerned about the corners sticking. Note you don't have to fill the wells to the top or even fully into the corners (and probably shouldn't - gotta give them room to grow!). I did add some extra herbs to the dough - dried basil and thyme - for a flavor boost.
They filled out the wells nicely and the cheese turned crusty and so tasty.
Assuming you like olives, how could you resist these! They turned out of the pan with no sticking. Feeling lazy after all of the other baking, I used a can of pre-sliced generic black olives instead of the ones called for in the recipe. I think they turned out just fine, though I would have preferred a more robust olive flavor. But I bet if you used some fancy olives, like Kalamata olives, they would solve that nicely. And now I wonder how green olives would taste?!
My tall tower of treats in to-go tubs! I shared them with my (very appreciative!) coworkers at Ballentine Library as well as my family.
Please check out Richland Library's LIBRARY OF THINGS! I am sure there's something fun, useful, or educational you can use!
As of March 2023, there are almost 200 kits you can check out from Main, 11 from Ballentine, and 2 from Edgewood. Everything from tillers and telescopes to bird watching packs and bubble machines - and so much more! Questions? Call Richland Library Main at (803)799-9084 and ask for Studio Services or stop by and talk to a staff member.