Cream Scones

This week, Mr. D and I invited my sister over, along with friends and family, to share tea, coffee and baked goodies with them as my sister talked about what the Lord has lead her to do in Kenya (she has been a missionary there for 3+ years). I made scones and wanted to share the recipe because they came out AMAZING ( tender, crumbly, not too sweet and not overly rich) and because this would be a great recipe as a base for any type of scone. You could add chocolate, dried fruit, or nuts for a sweet scone, or herbs, minced veggies or spices for something a little more savory. Some whole grains would also be a great addition. I didn't have any extra bits on hand to add, so I left the recipe as-is with no alterations and served it with raspberry jam. Yum! 

I found this recipe in my mom's go-to bread cookbook, A World of Breads (Dolores Casella, 1966). I used the same ingredients as Casella, but I used the baking techniques my mom taught me for incorporating everything together. It always makes my pastry light and crumbly, which is what I wanted to achieve with this scone. Success!


Cream Scones 
*makes 12 scones

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick; and I use unsalted butter for all my baking)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cream or evaporated milk

Directions:

1. Sift the flour and lightly stir in the baking powder, salt and sugar. 
2. Cut in the butter with a pastry knife or two knives, until the butter is half the size of peas. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Beat cold cream and eggs together and pour into a well in the chilled butter-flour mixture, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the liquid. Use a fork and lightly mix together, evenly incorporating all of the liquid throughout the dough. It should form a soft dough. The key is to work the dough the LEAST amount possible.
4. Flour hands and gently press dough together, kneading about 10 times. Use a little extra flour if the dough is too mushy and not holding together in a smooth ball. 
5. Sprinkle a cutting board lightly with flour to keep dough from sticking. Divide the dough in half and on the floured cutting board, form each half into 2 circles, flattening them to about 1 inch in thickness. Cut each circle into 6 equal parts (12 total triangles). 
6. Place triangles about 2 inches apart on a buttered cookie sheet (I use parchment paper instead of buttering the cookie sheet) and brush the tops of the scones with the reserved milk and egg mixture. 
7. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden. (My oven is electric and a little bit hotter than most, so I reduced the temperature to 440 degrees and they were done in 12 minutes.) You can test the center of a scone with a toothpick to see if they are baked through (if the toothpick comes out clean, they're done!)
8. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter, clotted cream and/or fruit jam.