scones Archives - 3jamigos

Game of Scone: The Tea Wedding

By threejamigos | February 28, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

My go-to scone recipe is an adaptation of Dorie Greenspan’s Cream Scone. I love these and have made countless of variations using dried fruit, fresh fruit, citrus peel. It is my go-to scone recipe. Her scones are buttery, sweet, and tender. I often throw in dried wild blueberries and lemon zest or during the summer, bits of fresh ripe peaches. Scrumptious. There is enough sweetness and moisture that these scones can be eaten without accouterments. But feel free to slather a bit of butter and jam on them if you like. They are little triangles of buttery perfection, but…

They’re just not English Tea Scones

I love High Tea, almost as much as I love having a hot dog with all the fixings at a Giant’s baseball game. The boys and I went to Hong Kong before COVID and High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong (think Crazy Rich Asians) was on our bucket list.

I savored the entire experience-the surroundings, the impeccable service, fine china, my boys in jackets and slacks, an array of delicious bite-sized morsels, and of course dainty tea scones with clotted cream and jam. It was scrumptious.

Lady and Her Pups’ meticulous recipe for Classic English Scones popped up on my feed, I knew I had to try them. Her video and blog post for her scones are so detailed, you can’t go wrong. The texture of her scones is spot-on, light, and crumbly the perfect foil for clotted cream and jam. With that first bite, I found myself sitting at the Peninsula with the boys leisurely sipping on a cup of hot Darjeeling Tea, savoring my scone with clotted cream and strawberry preserves.

Game of Scones: The Rules

I encourage everyone to watch the video on how to make these scones but if you don’t…here are the highlights…

English scones are not as buttery and a little drier than American scones. Why? Because you are going to slather copious amounts of clotted cream or butter, jam, or lemon curd on your English scones, Silly.

Brown sugar adds both flavor and color. Substitute granulated sugar for the brown sugar for a lighter-colored scone.

Work in the butter, you should not have any pea-size bits of butter, mixture should resemble a coarse meal.

Squeeze the flour-butter mixture together, if it clumps you are ready to add the liquid.

A combination of heavy cream and yogurt is used as the liquid this provides moisture and fat. More butter would weigh down the dough. The dough will be shaggy after adding the liquid ingredients. It’s ok, it will come together as you knead the dough.

Roll dough to 1.125 inches thickness, any less and the scones will be too flat.

Keep scones small and dainty, use a cookie cutter no more than 2 inches in diameter. When cutting, press down without twisting as that would cause the scone to rise unevenly.

The dough will need to rest before baking so the flour has time to absorb the liquid.

Double egg wash, the secret to shiny tops.

These scones should have a crack around the circumference (classic). This is the perfect spot to split your scone. Then get ready to spread the clotted cream and jam on both halves! Yum!

Now go bake some scones!

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English Tea Scones

Classic English Tea Scones from Lady and Her Pups

Course Biscuits and scones

Cuisine British

Keyword English Tea Scone, scone, Tea

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Ingredients

WET INGREDIENTS

1 large egg
3 tbsp plain yogurt 45 grams, not Greek-style, regular
3 tbsp heavy cream 44 grams

DRY INGREDIENTS

2 cups AP flour 240 grams
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp light brown sugar 40 grams. You can substitute granulated sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, diced 70 grams

Instructions

Crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Transfer 1 tbsp of the beaten egg into another cup and set aside. This will be the egg wash (do not add water). Then whisk the plain yogurt and heavy cream with the remaining egg until even. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, light brown sugar and fine sea salt. Add the unsalted butter, use your fingers to rub the butter evenly into the flour until NO SMALL LUMPS OF BUTTER ARE LEFT, and the flour resembles yellow cornmeal.
Add all the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold and mix everything together until no loose flour are left in the bowl, then use your hands to knead the dough a few times until everything comes into a ball.
Transfer the dough onto the counter, no need to dust with flour. Continue to knead the dough a few more times until it is on just until the dough has a TINY BIT OF RESISTANCE WHEN YOU PUSH IT DOWN. If the dough sticks to the counter, use a pastry cutter to scrape it off, do not flour board. The dough should look even but not as smooth as a bread dough.
Now dust the dough with a little flour to prevent sticking, and roll it out into 1-1/8 inch thickness. Press the flat side of the dough scraper on top of the dough to make sure it's flat and level. Use a 2 inch round cutter to press down into the dough. DON'T twist, then gently push the dough out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet without making large dents or making the dough too lopsided. Dip the cutter into some flour and tap on the edge to get rid of excess flour, and cut again.
Squeeze the remaining dough back together into a ball without big cracks, roll and cut again. Repeat until you use all of the dough. You should have 7 to 9 scones.
Brush the reserved egg wash on the top surface of the biscuits, save the egg wash. Place sheet in the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes UNCOVERED. Meanwhile, preheat the oven on 420 F. Right before baking, brush a second layer of egg wash on the top of the scones. This double layer gives the scones a shiny finish.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes, then turn OFF the oven, and leave the biscuits inside for another 5 minutes to finish cooking. Transfer onto a cooling rack and serve warm with clotted cream and jam-required. In a pinch, you can serve with lemon curd in place of the cream and jam.

Just Peachy Cream Scones

By threejamigos | July 12, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

Ripe for the Picking

Peaches and nectarines are showing up at the farmer’s market in full force now. Summer is in full swing and the delicious scent of summer fruits-peaches, melons, and berries permeate the air. Even with my COVID mask on I catch whiffs of the heady aroma of vine-ripened fruit.

I came home with way too many peaches and nectarines of course. After eating more than a couple out of hand I decided it was time to change it up. I saw a recipe in the NYT for a peach loaf bread but that would mean having the oven on for a very long time, way too hot for that. How about scones? I can make Dorie’s Cream Scones and throw in peaches in place of currants and fortunately, they bake in a jiffy.

Dorie’s Cream Scones is my go-to recipe, I have made it with dried cranberries and orange zest, dried blueberries and lemon, or freeze-dried strawberries. It lends itself well to variations. But fresh fruit? A little trickier. I diced the skinned peach and placed it in the freezer while I made the dough. I used one cup of diced peaches which is conveniently about 1 peach.

Partially freezing the peaches (don’t use commercially frozen peaches, those have too much liquid), prevents the peaches from getting smooshed when you fold them into the dough. I tossed them in when I added the liquid to the dry ingredients but it would be better to add the liquid, blend it to a shaggy mess, then add the peaches as you bring the dough together.

Pearls of Sconedom

Fresh fruit is less focused in sweetness and flavor than dried fruit. I liked the peaches but they would benefit from a couple of “flavor amplifiers”. Next time I will add a teaspoon of vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the dough. I was lazy so I did not put a wash on the scones. My bad, do not skip this. Brush an egg-wash or heavy cream on the scones before baking and sprinkle them generously with turbinado or sparkling sugar. This adds both crunch and sweetness. Another variation to jazz these scones up, finely diced candied or crystallized ginger would be ah-mazing, use about 2 tablespoons.

Make these scones an hour or two before you serve them. I like them at room temperature, the flavor, and texture set up nicely. They are often served warm too, just not my preference. Scones are drier than biscuits which means they are perfect with a spoon of jam and dollop of clotted cream-scone heaven. If you don’t have clotted cream, you can use creme fraiche, mascarpone, or butter.

Whaddya waiting for, go make some scones!

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Dorie Greenspan's Cream Scones

Dorie's classic cream scones with fresh peaches

Course Biscuits and scones, Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, British

Keyword Cream Scones, Dorie Greenspan, Scones

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 22

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter chilled & cut into small pieces

Wet Ingredients:

1 large egg
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract optional

Adds:

3/4-1 cup fresh fruit-peaches, nectarines, strawberries, berries larger fruit-diced and left to drain on a paper towel while making dough.

Egg wash:

2 tbsp heavy cream or egg wash
turbinado or sparkling sugar

Accompaniments

jam or preserves serving
clotted cream substitute creme fraiche or mascarpone

Instructions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment
In a small bowl, stir the egg, cream and vanilla (if using) together.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.
Pour the egg, cream and currants over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, come together. Don't overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times.
You can also use a food processor. Place dry ingredients in bowl, pulse 1-2 twice to mix. Add butter and pulse 5-6 times until mixture looks like crumbs. Add egg/cream and pulse to dough just begins to clump. Do not overmix! Take mixture out of processor bowl, fold in peaches and shape dough into circles, proceed as below.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet.
Brush scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar
Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes (start checking at 15 min) or until their tops are golden and firm. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.
The scones can be frozen on the baking sheet as the cut wedges, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking- just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.
Serve with jam and clotted cream or butter

Notes

Great combinations include:

Sub dried blueberries and lemon, add 1 tsp lemon zest

Sub dried cranberries and orange add 1-2 tsp orange zest

Sub fresh fruit for currants:

blueberries, strawberries

cut fruit-partially freeze diced fruit before adding to dough

Lemon Icing

1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

“Bacon Up” Some Savory Scones

By threejamigos | October 18, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

It is not surprising that I love scones. Scones are the British version of biscuits and as you all know, I am obsessed with biscuits. I will go in search of two things on my travels, BISCUITS and PIE. Yep, I have been known to detour far and wide for either. I may not go out of my way for a scone (who am I kidding, yes I will), but if I happen on a bakery and they have scones, that’s what will be sitting next to my cup of joe. At home, my favorite scone recipe is from Dorie Greenspan. Tender, crumbly, buttery, a touch of sweetness-downright delicious. Make it with currants for a classic cream scone, or change it up and add orange zest and dried cranberries or my personal favorite, lemon and wild blueberries.

But this post takes a walk on the savory side. Recommended by my friend Mary, baker extraordinaire-Bacon, Cheddar, Chive Scones from King Arthur Flour are seriously addicting. That first bite fills your mouth with buttery crumbs, chunks of golden cheese, flecks of green chives, and then…wait for it..sweet, salty, crispy, bits of BACON. Hello? Are you smacking your lips right now? You should be.

These are quick and easy to make and you can freeze the unbaked scones, take them out in the morning, throw them in the oven and voila, 30 minutes later, you are enjoying freshly baked warm scones.

After cutting the butter into the flour mixture, add your flavor bombs.

Add cream and fold, smoosh the dough together and form a disc approximately 1 inch thick, cut into wedges. Do not overmix, but the dough should come together when pinched. Add cream in tablespoon increments if necessary.

Confession. The first time I made these was on a whim. I opened the door to my fridge, hmmm, no chives, scallions will have to do. What? No heavy cream, you’re kidding… well, I do have half & half, why not? The trifecta of substitutions, I had a medley of cheese, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, and Mozzarella no cheddar.

Last minute bakers cannot be choosy.

The scones turned out fine. Light, great bacon flavor, definitely a keeper and I saved all those calories using half-half. Not bad!

The next time I was prepared-heavy cream, pastry flour, chives, sharp cheddar cheese…you betcha’. This scone was a bit denser and moister, I could taste the sharp cheddar and overall the scone seemed richer.

Both scones were delicious. So I leave it to you. For a richer scone use heavy cream, for a lighter scone use half & half but definitely use sharp cheddar cheese for flavor. I might even add some chopped jalapeno next time to spice it up a bit. Woohoo!

**Alert** If you are a purist do not read the next paragraph. The recipe calls for approximately a cup of chopped bacon. That’s a lot of bacon. You COULD oven-bake or pan-fry (all that splatter, ugh) the half pound of bacon and crumble it into bits, OR you could go to Costco and buy ready to use REAL bacon bits. We are not talking imitation Bacobits but real bacon. Snap, So EASY.

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Bacon-Cheddar-Chive Scones

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American, British

Keyword scone

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Total Time 55

Servings 8

Ingredients

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Pastry Flour Blend either works fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup very coarsely grated or diced cheddar cheese grated works well
1/3 cup snipped fresh chives or finely diced scallion tops the green part
1/2 pound bacon cooked, cooled, and crumbled (about 1 cup)* see text above
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream or whipping cream or enough to make the dough cohesive

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle to upper third. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, with some of the butter remaining in larger pieces.
Mix in the cheese, chives, and bacon until evenly distributed.
Add 3/4 cup of the cream, stirring to combine. Try squeezing the dough together; if it's crumbly and won't hang together, or if there are crumbs remaining in the bottom of the bowl, add cream until the dough comes together. Transfer the shaggy dough to a well-floured work surface.
Pat the dough into a smooth 7" disk about 3/4" thick. Transfer the disk to the prepared baking sheet. Use a knife or bench knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges apart a bit on the pan.
Brush the scones with a bit of cream; this will help their crust brown.
Bake the scones in the middle or upper third of the oven for 22 to 24 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.If they brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
Refrigerate any leftover scones, well wrapped, for several days; reheat before serving. Freeze for longer storage.

Notes

Want to make scones now, freeze and bake later?

Make scones up to the point they're on the baking sheet, cut and ready to bake; don't brush them with cream. Freeze, then remove from the sheet, and wrap airtight in a plastic bag. When you're ready to bake, remove however many you want to bake from the freezer, place on a baking sheet, brush with cream, and bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.

Make mini-scones: Divide the dough in half, and roll each half into a 5" round. Cut each round into 8 wedges. Bake in a preheated 425°F oven till golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes; or for about 25 minutes if frozen.

Karma’s a Batch…of Meyer Lemon Scones

By threejamigos | April 23, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

I got up this morning with scones on the brain. A while ago I had come across a recipe on the blog Dessert for Two for Small Batch Meyer Lemon Scones. They looked delicious. I filed it away under the “I should try these cause they look yummy” recesses of my mind. This past weekend my goal was to clean and reorganize the fridge (inspired by Sam Kass’s new book). As luck would have it, squirreled away in the back of the crisper drawer I found a forgotten bag of Meyer Lemons from my baking buddy, Kathy.

Karma, I was Meant to Make These Scones.

The recipe makes four more-than-generous scones so my first change was to make six instead. A nice size to accompany a breakfast plate or on its own as an afternoon tea treat. You can whip up a batch in no time flat and that’s without using a mixer. The keys are to keep everything as cold as possible and to not overwork the dough. The mantra for any scone, biscuit, or pie dough.

I used a pastry cutter to mix the butter in the flour. The butter should be in small pieces no bigger than petite peas. Add the wet ingredients and blend together. The mixture will not hold together but will be shaggy. Pour onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Fold and compress the dough to form a disc. The heat of your hands will help the dough clump together. Cut the disc into four to six pieces.

Separate the scones and paint the tops with heavy cream. Bake until golden. I made the icing but it didn’t stand out on the scones. It did add a nice sweet-tart finish though.

These scones are tender, buttery, and lemony sweet. The perfect beginning or ending to a day. It’s a good thing this is a small batch recipe…I’d be tempted to eat them all.

Karma’s a Batch…of Meyer Lemon Scones

A lovely buttery, light, lemony scone from Dessert for Two that is easy to make, a perfect weekend morning pick me up.

Course Biscuits and scones, Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword Cream Scones, meyer lemon scones, Meyer lemons

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Wet Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream plus extra for brushing
1 large egg yolk
zest of 2 Meyer lemons* I'm thinking grapefruit or reg lemons would work well too.

For the optional glaze: Try not to skip it, it is a nice finish.

1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon heavy cream
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Dice the butter and add it to the flour mixture. Work the butter into the flour mixture until it's evenly distributed and smaller than peas. Use two knives, a pastry cutter, or your fingertips (quickly squeeze the butter pieces between your fingers pressing them into little flakes.
Whisk heavy cream, egg yolk and lemon zest in a small bowl. Pour ontothe flour mixture and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Don't overmix, but incorporate things well.
Scoop the dough out, place it on the baking sheet, and use the warmth of your hands to fold and press dough together until it sticks together into a round disc form.
Cut the dough circle into 4-6 even pieces. Brush each piece with extra heavy cream. (Cut by pressing knife in one downward motion, don't use a sawing motion which will cause uneven rising)
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and they lightly brown on the edges.
While the scones bake, whisk together the glaze ingredients.
Glaze the scones when cool.

Cream Scones (Dorie is a Goddess)

By threejamigos | December 1, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

I absolutely love Dorie Greenspan, her recipes work, her writing is wonderful and most of all she comes across as a really nice person. I left a comment regarding a recipe I found on her blog, it wasn’t even her recipe but from Sarabeth’s in New York. Well the next thing you know, she contacts Sarabeth who in turn calls me to troubleshoot the recipe! WOW. That’s what I’m saying..NICE.

Scones are Made for Sharing

A favorite Dorie recipe (aside from World Peace Cookies) is Cream Scones from her Baking From My Home to Yours. They’re so easy to make, you can whip them up in a jiff. Today I brought them to our mom’s Monday morning coffee. I ran 30 minutes late due to my last minute decision to make them but no one complained. After all, I came bearing gifts, warm scones just out of the oven.

You can put just about anything you want in these scones. I threw in lemon zest and dried wild blueberries in today’s batch. Infinite possibilities exist, orange zest and cranberries, raisins, even dried corn and cherries would be a wonderful addition.

Game of Scones: The Rules

To make these I used my biscuit bowl (love it). Of course, you can use any bowl but I need to justify having a biscuit bowl. Have all your ingredients well chilled to start. You could use a food processor but the dough does come together quickly using a pastry blender or your fingers to incorporate the butter into the flour. Do not over-mix, you will see little lumps of butter in your dough and still have flour showing.

Pour the mass on the counter and knead a couple of times to bring the dough together. Shape the dough into 2 5-inch circles and cut each into 6 wedges, (the baking time was closer to 15 minutes). Brush the scones with cream before popping them into the oven.

While they’re baking I make my coffee and 20 minutes later I’m kicking my feet up, enjoying a cup of coffee and warm scones. How great is that?

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Dorie Greenspan's Cream Scones

Dorie's classic cream scones

Course Biscuits and scones

Cuisine American, British

Keyword Cream Scones

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Servings 12 scones

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

1 large egg
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter chilled & cut into small pieces

The Add Ins:

3/4 cup currants
1 tsp vanilla extract or sub 1/2 teaspoon almond exrtract optional
clotted cream substitute creme fraiche or mascarpone
peach jam or preserves
Egg wash
2 tbsp heavy cream or egg wash
turbinado or sparkling sugar

Instructions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.

By Hand

Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.
Pour the egg, cream and currants over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, come together. Don't overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times.

Food Processor:

You can also use a food processor. Place dry ingredients in bowl, pulse 1-2 twice to mix. Add butter and pulse 5-6 times until mixture looks like crumbs. Add egg/cream and pulse to dough just begins to clump. Do not overmix! Take mixture out of processor bowl, fold in peaches and shape dough into circles, proceed as below.

Directions for both by hand or food processor

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet.
Brush scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar
Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes (start checking at 15 min) or until their tops are golden and firm. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.
The scones can be frozen on the baking sheet as the cut wedges, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking- just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.
Serve with jam and clotted cream or butter