Chef Gregoire Michaud Reveals the Complex Secrets Behind His Famous Scones

Posted on May 13, 2011

The Wall Street Journal is doing an interesting series in which each week they feature one of Asia's top chefs at work. In this clip, we see Four Seasons Hong Kong's executive pastry chef Gregoire Michaud crafting one of his famous scones. The recipe takes three days to prepare, and has more than 20 steps. Chef Michaud said they discovered that every little step they added to the recipe affected the end product. It took four months to create the special scone recipe. It's a very precise recipe: just one change, such as the brand of butter, will throw the recipe off.

The ingredients rest at room temperature on day one. Mixing is on day two, then the dough rests overnight. On day 3, the scones are rolled out, shaped, cut and baked. Halfway through the baking process, the scones are hand shaped and coated with eggwash for a shiny top. Quality control is the key here: each step must be replicated exactly to get the same end result every day to serve at the hotel.

Amy Ma got to taste one of the scones hot out of the oven, and they do look delicious. You can visit Chef Michaud's website here. Take a look:

FOOD