Fresh Berry Scones

Recipes not written for those who do not already know how to cook are one of my biggest pet peeves. They do not write recipes to make new cooks successful, which irritates me to no end. This type of recipe is only as good as the cook’s know-how. Not explaining the recipe’s details is the same as someone giving you a recipe missing a key ingredient. It sets the novice cook up for failure. It is frustrating and defeating to follow a recipe precisely, only to achieve less than stellar results. I did not enjoy cooking for most of my adult life because of faulty recipes.

Lucky for me, I met Chris, who is fantastic in the kitchen. He has very patiently helped me to become more proficient in the kitchen.
He is my go-to guide when I find myself facing a recipe that is less than complete.

After picking an abundance of blueberries at the farm, I searched for recipes to use them in. I found a recipe for Fresh Berry Scones from the Jacobson Culinary Arts Academy at Tarpon Springs High School, which turned out to be one such recipe.

Fresh Berry Scones

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
8 ounces unsalted butter cut into 1″ cubes
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 cups of fresh berries (you can use dried berries as well)
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup sugar for dusting

I preheat the oven to 375-degrees. After I measured and prepared the ingredients, I combined the flour, baking powder, salt, and butter in a mixing bowl. The recipe calls for using a food processor, but I did not have one, so I did things the old-fashioned way.

I combined the lemon zest and sugar in a small bowl, rubbing them together with a spoon to release the lemon oils into the sugar. I added the sugar mixture to the flour mixture. In a food processor, you would pulse the ingredients until the butter is small pea-sized. Doing it by hand would have been easier with a pastry cutter, but I didn’t have one of those either. I used a combination of my hands, a wooden spatula, and a whisk. With some time and effort, I was able to achieve the results I wanted.

I combined the eggs and buttermilk in a small bowl, mixing them well before adding them to the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, I combined the ingredients until they were wet. I was careful not to overmix the batter. Once the batter was wet, I folded in the blueberries.

I sprinkled the counter with flour and removed the dough from the bowl onto the counter with the spoon. Here is where things went awry. The recipe said to flatten the dough and shape it into a rectangle. It left out pertinent information as to how big or thick the rectangle should be. I called Chris into the kitchen to get his opinion on the size. Baking is not his area of expertise, but I was willing to do as he suggested.

Once I had what we thought was the right-sized rectangle, I cut the dough into triangles with a bench scraper, which was easier said than done. The dough was wet and sticky and did not cut neatly.
I put my triangles on a greased sheet pan and brushed the tops with the cream. Finally, I sprinkled the sugar over the scones. I baked the scones for 30 minutes, checking them for doneness at 20 until they were golden brown and had an internal temperature of 200-degrees.

When I initially checked the scones, the temperature was 169-degrees. I was surprised because they still looked very wet and doughy, but they were firm to the touch when I felt them. An extra 10 minutes brought them up to the 200-degrees I wanted.

The scones were big and ugly, but they smelled wonderful. I put the sheet pan on a wire rack to cool. In the morning, I decided to have a scone with my coffee. I cut the ungainly triangle in half, making it a much more manageable size. The scones were delicious. They were soft, light, fluffy, and sweet without being overpoweringly sweet.

My suggestion for this recipe would be to pat the dough into a rectangle an inch thick. I would cut rectangles in the dough and then cut the smaller rectangle crisscross to form four triangles. I think the smaller triangles would cook faster, so I would probably check them at 15 minutes.

I am not sure how to fix the ugliness of the scones. I will experiment with leaving the dough a little drier when I mix it before adding the berries. I also wonder if using the food processor instead of doing it by hand would have made a difference. I guess I have an excellent excuse to make scones again.