Alana
A few weeks ago I went a little bit scone-crazy. Mike and I made a day-trip to Jasper to go skiing at Marmot Basin. For those of you who are not familiar with Edmonton and Jasper, it is about a 4 hour drive between the two. Day trips are therefore totally doable, but you need to get up quite early to make it worth your while. In light of our inevitable early start, I decided to bake some scones for breakfast/snacking purposes. They turned out so well that I got a little bit addicted, and made two more batches after we got back!
White chocolate raspberry, front and centre
After this scone-bananza, I really think the key to making good scones is to distribute your buttermilk evenly through the dry ingredients, and I think having a fairly wide bowl actually has a significant impact on that process. During scone round two, I made my batches simultaneously. I used by regular large mixing bowl for one batch, and a large container bowl for the other (my other mixing bowls are too small for scones). I did everything the same as far as technique goes, but the container batch needed quite a bit more buttermilk to ensure all of my dry ingredients were moistened. I think it was the narrower profile of the container that did me in, because all of the doughy bits kept getting the buttermilk, rather than the dryer parts at the bottom of the bowl.
Anyways, I used my Duchess recipe for scones and changed up the flavours for each batch. The first batch was blueberry chocolate, and the last two were blueberry lemon and raspberry white chocolate. The process was all the same, just with the variations in ingredients.
Scones, of Many Varieties
Ingredients – Berries & Chocolate
- 340 g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 130 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp buttermilk
- 75 g frozen blueberries or raspberries
- 100 g white or chocolate chip
Ingredients – Blueberry Lemon
- 340 g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 130 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp buttermilk
- 105 g frozen blueberries or raspberries
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- For glaze: ½ cup lemon juice and 120 g confectioners’ sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
- Add the butter to the dry ingredients, and use a pastry cutter or knife to cut the butter in. Continue until the bits of butter look like jelly beans.
- Make a well in the centre and pour half of your buttermilk in. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet by pushing in from the sides, like your tossing a salad with your hands. Gently rub the mixture as you go. Continue until you have used the remaining buttermilk. If there are still dry bits at the bottom, add an additional tbsp of buttermilk.
- Working quickly, gently incorporate the berries, chocolate, and/or lemon zest.
- Pack the mixture into the bottom of the bowl, then turn it out onto a floured surface. Press the dough into a large circle, and cut out 6 scones using either a round pastry cutter or a knife. Sprinkle with sugar if not using a lemon glaze.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown (mine are usually done after ~15 minutes)
- If using a lemon glaze, mix lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar. Pour over scones while warm.
The cheering is all for the scones, not the Canadian rockies or nice weather
Chateau Gateau 