Yesterday, I picked a large bowl full of the most beautiful ripe red strawberries from my mother's garden. It was the fourth of July: a gorgeous summer day that we spent mostly relaxing in the sunshine, the pleasant sounds of chirping birds and happy children playing, the occasional firecracker going off in the background.
My mom had mentioned a scone recipe in one of her mother's books. Once I'd had enough sunshine for the day, I went inside and pulled the black binder labeled "Breads, Rolls, Biscuits, Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Desserts" off the kitchen cupboard shelf. The binder is one of three that is filled with my grandmother's typewriter-typed recipes. I read the other recipes as I turned the pages in search of scones. A couple in particular caught my eye: "special" french bread involves topping a halved loaf of french bread with chopped raw bacon (everything is better with bacon), onion, and cheese; the recipe for dill bread includes 2 cups of warmed cottage cheese (odd), which my mom says is delicious.
Ok, back to the scones. It wasn't clear from the recipe what exactly to do with the butter, so I melted it. This left my dough perhaps looser than intended, so I added a bit more flour (reflected in the recipe below) and decided to drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheets, vs. pat it out and cut it as advised in the recipe. The resulting scones were perfect: a crisp exterior that gave way to a soft, buttery center (best enjoyed warm!). We enjoyed the scones with the fresh strawberries, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a bit of whipped cream.
My mom commented: it doesn't get much fresher than this - strawberries fresh out of the garden and scones fresh out of the oven. I agree. This is an example of eating local at it's best! Here's what I did:
Scones
Makes about 12 scones
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Beat eggs in a large bowl. Beat in milk, then butter. Add dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon (a little larger than a golfball) onto baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes, until golden.
One year ago: root beer baked beans
Two years ago: cumin lime sea bass with black bean veggie medley
These look great! I love scones. I would have guessed that the butter would be chilled and cut into the flour, but maybe that would make it more like a biscuit (flaky layers) than a scone. I just ate lunch but your photo made me hungry again.
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