My pandemic baking continues, and I decided to try Mexican (also sometimes called Mayan) mocha scones. This basically means cayenne chocolate coffee.
I started from the base of this recipe:
I've ended up with:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cocoa
3/4 tsp cayenne powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp instant espresso
Mix those dry ingredients together, then cut in:
6 tbsp unsalted cold butter
Then add:
1/2 cup mini unsweetened chocolate chips
Then add wet ingredients. First whisk together:
1 egg
3/4 cup cream (overdo this a bit)
Mix the wet into the dry with a fork or spatula. The result will be a little dry but should mostly hold itself together.
On a floured cutting board, press the dough into a circle around an inch thick, then cut into six wedges. I do this by first cutting in half and then cutting each half into thirds. I get more consistent sizes this way. For smaller scones you can do eighths.
Bake at 400 degrees on a baking sheet with parchment paper. 16 minutes.
They're best fresh but ok after a couple days. I microwave leftovers for 15 seconds to warm them up.
Review: today was my third attempt, upping the heat each time. I started with 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Today was the first time I could really taste the cayenne, but it was far from overpowering. I'll probably up it again next time. My first attempt at chocolate scones used 4 tbsp of cocoa, and it was too much chocolate to the point of not being very good.
I should experiment with the baking powder. I've seen other recipes use less.
Hey, so I have a top tip to add in addition to what looks like a great recipe, here. I don't work at a bakery anymore, but I did for two years (until recently). We did daily scones, and one thing we did was to make the dough, roll it flat, and fridge it (or, freeze it for longer storage). We'd then divide by weight and bake fresh every day. Now, you might not have your oven on every day (at the bakery the oven was necessarily on anyways), but instead of having your less-good-than-the-day-of scones, you could maybe do it every second day with dough from your fridge or freezer (you'd have to take it out the night before from the freezer, I think).
One of my favorite local coffee shops (called Resistencia Coffee in South Park) has their specialty mocha which is the chocolate/cayenne/coffee combo, and it's wonderful. Such a great flavor combo!