In my exploration of the wonderful world of tasty baked goods, up until about a month ago, I’d steered clear of scones. The avoidance wasn’t necessarily intentional–when I came by scones there were always other choices that seemed far more appealing (and by “other choices” I mean MUFFINS)–but they did have a bad reputation. I’d heard terrible, terrible things about scones. “Hard as rock” and “tasteless” were among the repeatable.
I had my first scone on a whim at The Whistling Kettle in Ballston Spa, NY, and from the first bite, everything changed. It was raspberry and it was incredible: warm, moist, crumbly, and filling. Since then, I’ve developed a small obsession with scones (and, for that matter, tea rooms: I can now whole-heartedly recommend Gypsy’s Tearoom in Westminster, MD and their butterscotch scones, as well, and I’m looking for a reason to get to Sweet Simplici-Tea in Sykesville, MD.)
So, is the slander against scones warranted? Probably, in many cases. But not if you follow these rules:
1. Scones should be fresh.
2. Scones should be served warm.
3. Scones should be served with jam.
4. Scones should be made from a good recipe.
The rest of this post is a testament to Rule #4–the most important one. I got the following recipe from Rob’s mom, and it makes some damn good, basic scones. They’re flavorful enough to enjoy on their own, but pairing them with jam (locally-made, if you can) makes them just about heavenly.
Currant Cream Scones
¼ cup currants
¼ cup boiling water
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
1. Pre-heat oven at 425º.
2. Boil water. In a small bowl, combine water and currants. Set aside for 5 minutes, then drain.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a fork.
4. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in sugar. Stir in heavy cream. Stir in currants carefully until large clumps form. Add more cream if it’s not clumpy enough. Don’t allow it to come together to form dough.
5. Turn out clumps onto floured pastry mat or counter. Cut through clumps with a pastry scraper/knife and then mush it all together into a ball of dough. Flatten the ball into a cake.
6. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a circle about ½-inch thick and 7 ½ inches across. Cut the round in half. Cut each half into fourths to make 8 triangles.
7. Transfer scones onto a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with more sugar.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
The original has you mix everything in a food processor, but what can I say, I like the traditional. This recipe is a solid foundation to experiment off of—just take out the currants and replace with whatever. I, however, will be making currant scones for a long time, since I could only find the little shrively things in a 2 cup-package. At least it gives me a reason to make a ton more scones. XD
