Scones

I love reading a newspaper with my morning juice (I'm not a coffee drinker) and the paper I really enjoy is the Wall Street Journal.  Of course, the "news" may be 3 days late because it comes via USPS, but the in-depth coverage makes up for what I see and hear on radio and tv.

But it's the other features of the paper which I truly enjoy and often share articles with friends and family.   I love the weekly real estate "Mansions" section; I avidly read the tech columns to learn what I should be thinking about buying next; I enjoy the wine discussions and have enjoyed giving some of the wines mentioned although now I usually give wines from our local winery Watauga Lake Winery in Butler, TN; and the recipes often catch my fancy.

 As the owner of a bed and breakfast, one article recently which said "try me" was Currant Cream Scones.  How could I not enjoy an article titled, "Romancing the Scone" - congrats to the headline writer for that one!
And try it today I did!  Didn't have any currants so made due with dried cranberries.  My guests loved them!  I loved making them since it was so easy.  Put the dry ingredients together the night before, added the heavy cream, mixed and baked!

So in case you want to try it here is the recipe.  Although it says makes 20 scones, I only made 8 as I made them a little fatter in a special scone pan.

2 cups all-purpose flour (I always use King Arthur)
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 cup sugar, plus 2-3 tbls for sprinkling
1 1/3 cups dried currants (I used cranberries, next time, dried blueberries and then...chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy cream, cold
3 tbls unsaled butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. over a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir in currants.  Add heavy cream to bowl and use an electric mixer to blend on low until ingredients are just combined.
3. Dump dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead very briefly. (I used a Silpat mat instead of putting more flour into the dough).
4. Roll dough out to a 1-inch thickness.  Use a 1-1 1/2 inch cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out scones.
5. Place scones 1 inch apart on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.  Reroll dough scraps and repeat process until all the dough has been used..  Using my scone pan, the dough filled the 8 slots.
6. Use a pastry brush to pain tops of scones with melted butter, then sprinkle with sugar.  Place pan/baking sheet in center of oven and bake until scones are golden - about 12-15 minutes.
7. Let scones cool on a baking rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature with butter and jam. (Scones can be stored in airtight container up to 24 hours or in the freezer for up to 12 weeks.
    My guests didn't need butter or jam with these light flaky scones.

Hope you enjoy yours as much as we've enjoyed these.