Scones: Two Ways

  

Scones make me think of Tea Time.  Of England.  Of fancy things and hats. 

I have cousins who have british accents.  One of them lives in London, so I guess that makes sense.  But both were raised in San Diego and one still lives there!  How does that happen?  I listen to them and wish that I could sound cute and British like they do.  Maybe I'll have to move to the UK and just practice, and then never lose it.  Oh and also meet my future husband, and wear tartan coats, and take a stroll on Primrose Hill.  Oh wouldn't it be lovely?

During college, my roommates and I used to speak in our "British accents" on a normal basis.  These accents were less than lovely and usually we sounded like something closer to Rose from the Golden Girls or a 3 year old child wondering where her scottie dog was.  Plus our conversations usually were centered around things like Taco Bell or what kind of 2 buck chuck we wanted to buy that night.  Anyway, if I could go back, I think I'd like to have a tea party with all of my roommates and our bad accents.  A tea party complete with scones.  Delicious Blueberry Lemon Scones and Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze.  But honestly, I think if we had a real tea party and spoke only in our accents, we would be in tears of laughter in no time.

As inspiration for your own tea party, make these scones!  I made them for a going away brunch at work, but the blueberry ones have been a staple in my brunch baking in the past.  The pumpkin ones were new this fall, and I made up a maple cinnamon glaze to sweeten them up a bit. 

The trick to scones is not to overmix them. Some scones can be tough and hard, but both of these recipes are really tender.  You want to keep your butter cold and incorporate it quickly.  If the butter doesn't get overworked, your scones will be nice and flaky!

Would you fancy some Earl Grey Tea with your scone? Right-O. These are just the dog's bollocks! Cheerio!

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients
Blueberry Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks

1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones

1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice 

1 lemon, zested

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.
Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, (and then 1/2 again if you want small scones like me) giving you 4 (3-inch) (or 8 1.5 inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.
Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Whisk until smooth.  Spoon and drizzle over cooled scones.  Let harden.

Pumpkin Scones with Maple Cinnamon Glaze
Adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients
Pumpkin Scones:
2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/3 - 1/2 c  buttermilk

1/2 c canned pure pumpkin

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Maple Cinnamon Glaze:

1 c powdered sugar

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

water if necessary to reach desired consistency

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or with your hands. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, and then 1/2 again giving you 8 squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Glaze:

I made this glaze to taste, so I'm not sure if the measurements are completely correct.  Use about 1 cup of powdered sugar, and 1/4 tsp on cinnamon.  Add in around 1 tbsp of maple syrup and mix together.  If glaze is too thick, add additional water, or maple syrup to taste and to desired consistency.  Drizzle over scones and let harden. 

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