This recipe has an interesting history. It originated at the French Culinary Institute in NY City where our daughter-in-law took the pastry course. She fiddled with it to get it just as she liked. Then my wife got it and fiddled some more. Low calorie? No, duh! Delicious? Oh yeah!! We usually eat them just plain, but for an extra treat, serve with some best quality preserves.
Ingredients for 12 to 15 scones
Preheat oven to 350° (original recipe). My oven is 365°
Combine in large bowl:
325 grams all-purpose flour (11-1/2 oz or appx. 2.5 c)
20 grams baking powder (appx. 5 teaspoons)
45 grams granulated sugar (appx. 3-1/2 tablespoons)
Pinch of salt
110 grams chilled unsalted butter (¼ lb or 1 stick), cut in small cubes
130 grams dried fruit such as currants or cranberries (appx. 4-1/2 oz)
Note: If you are using dried apricots or other large dried fruit, chop it into pieces about currant-size. If the fruit seems too dry, plump it in warm water before using.
Combine in measuring cup and whisk to combine:
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
Heavy cream to bring total volume to 225ml (appx. 7-1/2 oz.)
Procedure:
Ingredients for 12 to 15 scones
Preheat oven to 350° (original recipe). My oven is 365°
Combine in large bowl:
325 grams all-purpose flour (11-1/2 oz or appx. 2.5 c)
20 grams baking powder (appx. 5 teaspoons)
45 grams granulated sugar (appx. 3-1/2 tablespoons)
Pinch of salt
110 grams chilled unsalted butter (¼ lb or 1 stick), cut in small cubes
130 grams dried fruit such as currants or cranberries (appx. 4-1/2 oz)
Note: If you are using dried apricots or other large dried fruit, chop it into pieces about currant-size. If the fruit seems too dry, plump it in warm water before using.
Combine in measuring cup and whisk to combine:
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
Heavy cream to bring total volume to 225ml (appx. 7-1/2 oz.)
Procedure:
- Mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl
- Cut the cold cubed butter into the dry ingredients until it is the size of dried lentils. If the butter is cut up too much, the scones will not be as flaky
- Add the dried fruit to the flour mixture
- Add the egg/cream mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix until a dough forms, but do not overwork the dough – it should be soft and just come together. Note: the dough is quite dry and barely sticks together.
- Pat or roll out the dough until approximately ¾ inch thick
- Cut the scones into the desired shape and place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- Brush the scones with additional cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar
- Bake the scones at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottoms and around the edges. You may need to adjust the baking time and/or temp to suit your oven.
- The scones may be cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter, or into squares or wedges.
- The scraps of dough can be reused once but will lose some of their delicate texture.
- The raw scone dough may be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for several weeks.
