Deb's Scones from Smitten Kitchen

I love scones. Wedge shaped, biscuit round, crumbly, from a mix or made from scratch, sweet, filled with added fruit bits or left plain - you just can't make a bad scone in my world. Actually, I take that back. There is a mix scone from some pretty reputable company that should taste good but doesn't. Since it's already established I'm not a scone snob, the fact that I really disliked that particular brand mix is defnitely not a good endorsement for anyone desiring the quickest way to whip up a scone.

The smitten kitchen recipe below was wonderfully easy and everything went together well. This is the first time I've used my special scone pan so I was very pleased to see how easily the dough cut into eight perfect wedges. I found this a bit easier than putting dough scraps together to make those last round biscuits and, as Deb states, the wedge cuts make for nicer looking scones. Not that a scone needs to be picture perfect in order to taste good and be infinitely satisfying.

What Deb's instructions did clearly help me with was seeing exactly how thick the dough should be when cut into separate pieces. I modified her instructions a bit by turning the eight inch cake pan upside down. This gave me an exactly measured surface to pat my dough out onto before doing the cuts and then transferring each wedge into the portioned out hole in the scone pan. This might sound messy and/or cumbersome but the whole process was easy and completely messless.

There are some foods that, no matter how they turned out, would be worth the cooking just for their smell. These scones fall into that catagory. If I could figure a way to capture that delicious aroma, all the bottles of expensive perfume on my bathroom shelves would be tossed out the window so I could douse myself in eau du scone.


Dreamy 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
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 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°F.

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 3/4-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.