Professor Butter Beard’s “Baker Oostwaert and his wife”
I am a sunrise baker. Nellie and I both wake with the first birdsong but with quite different agendas in mind. Her goal is to get out into nature, relieve herself and herd as many deer as possible into her realm. Mine are much more subdued: grinding the coffee beans and setting the perfect brew, feeding my Mrs. Lovett (sour dough starter) and planning the morning bake as the sun just starts to color the sky. This agenda began many moons ago when as a pastry chef my intent was to be completely up to date with NPR and have the kitchen alive with the aromas of fresh baked bread, muffins, scones and the first cakes by the time the head chef and his minions would arrive for the day. It is my meditation.
I see that same smile of sunrise success on the face of Baker Oostwaert. He and his wife proudly show off their wares including fresh crackling loaves of bread, salted pretzels hanging as they cool and stacked scones and biscuits filling the street with their intoxicating perfume – all as the baker’s son blows a triumphant tune on his trumpet. (Have I mentioned that I played the trumpet for twelve years?) We know the baker’s name because of an old inscription on the back of the canvas including confirmation that the musical boy is the baker’s son.
The artist, Jan Steen, a 17th century Dutch painter, set himself apart from his contemporaries (Vermeer, Frans Hals and Rembrandt) through his richly diverse body of work, which included works of portraiture, historical and biblical themes, genre painting and landscape. Still, there are distinctive characteristics in Steen’s art, in particular an emphasis on aspects of theatrical storytelling and bold humor in his paintings and a complete understanding and abundance of vibrant color.
Steen was born in Leiden in 1626, a town in Southern Holland, where his well-to-do, Catholic family were brewers who ran the tavern “The Red Halbert” for two generations. He received his artistic education from Nicolaes Knupfer, a respected German painter of historical and figurative scenes in Utrecht. In October of 1649, Steen married renowned landscape painter Jan van Goyen’s daughter, with whom he would have eight children. He worked with his father-in-law until 1654, when he and his family moved to Delft, where he ran the brewery “De Slang” ("The Snake") for several years. While Steen was a very prolific painter (it is written that he produced over 800 paintings), it was not enough to support his ever-growing family, and the lively brewery became another source of necessary income. Because of this, scholars have surmised that Steen’s festive scenes of drinking and merrymaking were based on his life as an innkeeper. Likewise, since he often included himself in his group paintings, many have assumed that these portrayals were true to Steen’s life. It is also speculated that Baker Oostwaert might have been a friend and frequent visitor to “The Snake” after his ovens were set to cool for the afternoon.
Scones have always been one of my favorite morning bakes. I can forage through bits around my kitchen to combine them into new tantalizing combinations to tempt my neighbors and friends as the fresh-baked aroma dances out my kitchen window into the morning sky. Even Nellie offers up a big face smile if they happen to include bits of crisp bacon or cheddar cheese that morning. Do they make her forget the deer – not a chance!
Currant, Orange and Ginger Scones
16 Scones (using a 2 ½” round cutter)
Ingredients:
Dusting of coarse cornmeal for the baking sheet
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (plus a bit more for dusting the rolling surface)
3 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda (this helps the browning, but could easily be left out)
1 tsp kosher salt (less to taste)
2 oranges (you will use both the zest and the juice)
1 cup dried currants
10 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
1 ½ cups cold buttermilk
2 tsp freshly grated ginger root
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 egg (for the egg wash)
Coarse sanding sugar for a finishing sprinkle before baking
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2) Zest the two oranges. Set the zest aside and juice the two oranges into the 1 cup of currants in a microwavable bowl. Cover the currants and juice with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 ½ minutes. Set aside to cool.
3) Line a sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper and lightly dust with coarse cornmeal
4) Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and soda and salt), then whisk in the orange zest.
5) With a box grater, grate 10 Tbsp cold butter directly onto the dry mix.
6) Cut in the butter with your fingers (or a pastry cutter) until only small pieces remain.
7) Strain the cooled currants and fold them into the dry mix.
8) Add the grated ginger root and the vanilla paste to the cold buttermilk and stir to combine.
9) Make a well in the dry mix and pour in the cold buttermilk. Gather the dough together with your hands until all is moistened and forms a loose ball.
10) On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough until it is about one inch thick.
11) Dip a 2 ½” inch round cutter in flour and cut out as many circles as possible. Make sure you don’t twist the cutter. This will close the cuts and inhibit rising. Place the cut scones on the parchment lined pan. Lightly gather the remaining dough together and cut out as many circles as possible again.
12) Whisk the egg with 1 Tbsp water and lightly brush the tops only of the scones. Sprinkle the tops with the sanding sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and starting to brown. Rotate the pan halfway through the baking.
13) Remove from the oven and let the pan sit on a wire rack for five minutes. Remove the scones from the pan and continue to cool them on the wire rack.
