Wednesday, February 27, 2008

dreaming of scones...


for the longest time, now, i've been looking for a great scone recipe. i think i've found it. now i can't wait to try the recipe.

i found it on my favorite blog of all times Smitten Kitchen

here are the particulars (you should totally check out their website):

Cream Scones
America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
½ cup currants (I used dried cranberries, and chopped them into smaller bits)
1 cup heavy cream


1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.


2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.


3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor,remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.


4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.


5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper (the book’s suggestion) or b) patting the dough onto a lightly floured work surface into a ¾-inch thick circle, cutting pieces with a biscuit cutter, and pressing remaining scraps back into another piece (what I did) and cutting until dough has been used up. (Be warned if you use this latter method, the scones that are made from the remaining scraps will be much lumpier and less pretty, but taste fine. As in, I understand why they suggested the first method.)


6. Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I made this recipe last night and it wasn't that creamy, but it was the best scone I've had in years! I used the chopped up dried cranberries, too. They were an excellent touch. I think next time, I'm going to sprinkle some hard sugar crystals on top before baking them. They needed just a smidge more sweetness to them.

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOSH WOW!!! These were amazing!(My mom did a wonderful job baking them =] ) and yes I agree with the sugar on top, it did need some glazing.

Anonymous said...

So how many points are they. They sound decadent.

--cara said...

yea, they're decadent, but they're a whopping 5 points each. each scone was a triangle that was between 3 and 4 inches on it's longest edge. So they were pretty tiny for the huge number of points.

so these are definitely NOT WW friendly scones. but they sure were delicious! the best i've ever had!