I had the pleasure of meeting Nick Malgieri a few weeks ago and taking a few classes from him. On the first evening, he featured recipes and techniques from his newest book, Bake! I had just picked up the book a few days before the class, so I hadn’t had a chance to make anything from it. But watching Nick bake, I knew it had been a good purchase.
When my friend Kayte mysteriously received a copy of Bake! in the mail, return address Nick Malgieri, New York, she was excited to start baking from it. So we decided to do a Twitterbake, where we would both bake the same recipe at the same time and Tweet about it as we went. Kayte chose Orange & Almond Scones, which sounded perfect to me. I’m a big scone fan, and these looked great. We had our recipe, picked a time, and were good to go.
The recipe calls for almond paste. Although I had never baked with almond paste before, there are a few recipes I’m making soon that call for it. And after some searching, I had recently acquired my first-ever can of Solo Almond Paste. In the process of searching for almond paste and realizing how expensive it is, I had also found a few recipes to make it. So, the evening before the Twitterbake, I made two versions of almond paste. I liked the egg white version better, so that’s what I decided to use for the scones.
The scones are very simple to make. After mixing flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the food processor, I whirred in the almond paste, then the butter. I beat an egg with milk and orange zest, added that to the food pro, and gave it a few pulses. Then I dumped the whole thing out onto a floured board, divided the dough in half, and shaped each piece into a disk. I scored the dough, gave it a little egg wash, pressed on some slivered almonds, and it was ready to bake.
As simple as they were, these scones came out great. I’m going to serve them when my family comes to town for Thanksgiving and make them again for Christmas morning.
From the recipes I’ve sampled from this book so far, I highly recommend it. If you do pick up a copy, let me know. Kayte and I are planning to make a few recipes from it each month, and if you’d like to bake and Tweet along with us, we’d love to have you.
Of Cabbages & King Cakes 
Homemade Almond Paste {Recipe} « Of Cabbages & King Cakes said,
November 5, 2010 at 9:39 pm
[…] A few weeks ago, my friend Kayte and I decided to try a recipe from Nick Malgieri‘s new book, Bake! She chose Orange & Almond Scones. […]
Sara said,
November 4, 2010 at 8:23 pm
I’ve checked this book out twice from the library: I haven’t made anything from it yet but it is fabulous looking. I am looking forward to your post on danishes! I have decided I’m not allowed to buy this until I finish with the Modern Baker (and also get going on my other Malgieri, “A Baker’s Tour”) but we know I am weak when it comes to cookbook purchases…
gaaarp said,
November 4, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Kayte and I are making sweet potato pie this weekend. Maybe we’ll do danish soon, just to tempt you!
astheroshe said,
October 25, 2010 at 6:53 am
they look great! I just browsed thru BAKE! at Borders. Waiting for my Borders coupon before i purchase it. I wish someone would send me a free copy ^^
gaaarp said,
October 25, 2010 at 3:21 pm
You’ll love it! And then you can join us in our occasional Twitter bakes.
Renee said,
October 25, 2010 at 12:05 am
Those look delicious!! Any recipe that makes it to the holiday baking for relatives level must be good! I look forward to seeing what else you bake and I’ll put the book on my wanted book list!
Abby said,
October 24, 2010 at 10:00 pm
These look just fabulous! I was also interested in baking with you two today, but my in-laws are in town and life got busy…… Will you share your recipe for the almond paste???
gaaarp said,
October 24, 2010 at 10:06 pm
I’m going to do a post on it soon with the recipe, but in the meantime, send me an e-mail at phyl(dot)law(at)gmail(dot)com, and I’ll send it to you.
Nancy/n.o.e. said,
October 24, 2010 at 9:36 pm
OK, that’s two out of two endorsements for BOTH Christmas and Thanksgiving breakfast for these scones. Now I’m sitting up and taking notice! The recipe will go on my list for sure, but not certain about another baking book… although I love Nick’s recipes. These look delicious, and isn’t it fun to bake-and-tweet?
gaaarp said,
October 24, 2010 at 9:49 pm
It was a lot of fun. I took the computer into the kitchen and tweeted during the whole process. It was a little distracting — but no more than I’m used to with kids coming and going as I bake. I can’t wait for the next one!
Margaret said,
October 24, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Scones look FANTASTIC!!!! Wanted to bad to join in today, but wasn’t in the stars. Definitely on the list after you and Kayte raved about them. Thanks for sharing.
gaaarp said,
October 24, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Sorry you couldn’t make it today. We’ll have another one coming in a few weeks. Hope to see you then!
Kayte said,
October 24, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Mysteriously received the book…oh, yeah, and I thank you very much for your hand in that little surprise. Love the book! Fun baking with you today, fun to bake the first recipe…your turn to pick the next one. Your scones look really good, very fancy on the top, too. I just dumped the prescribed number of chopped almonds all over it and called it a day. What can I say, I cook for guys who never notice things like fancy tops and you cook for chicks who do. That’s my story anyway. Thanks for suggesting making homemade almond paste, it was so easy, and delicious. Now what am I ever going to do with the can of it I have as the homemade has to be better, right? Onward.
gaaarp said,
October 24, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I know. I have canned and two other versions of almond paste to use. I think I’ll use them since I have them. But then I’m definitely sticking with the homemade egg white almond paste.