Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A Weekend of Baking



The Baking Spirits were out in full force this past weekend and in total possession of my mind and energies. And they seemed to have worked their magic on my 8 year old daughter as well - prying her away from the television and prompting her to assist me with not one, but two sessions of weekend baking. Together we made one of my all-time favorites - Scones. In the past Lemon-Poppy Seed Scones were the "go to" treat for snacks and tea time, but when I saw the large, gorgeous blueberries in the market, I couldn't resist buying them, photographing them, and then changing up my standard recipe to make Lemon-Blueberry Scones. Perhaps the best part of this baking time was watching my daughter dive in and pretty much make this batch of scones on her own. Although she has been baking with me since she was a toddler, it was great to see her really take charge and see the end result so nicely done. Oh... if only we had doubled the batch, there might still be some left.
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Lemon Blueberry Scones
3 cups all purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
zest of two lemons
juice of 1 lemon.
1 pint blueberries
6 oz chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup chilled buttermilk (or heavy cream)
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Preheat oven to 400
Toss blueberries with 1/4 cup flour in a small bowl, set aside. Sift together remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add lemon zest and cold butter. Rub butter into flour mixture with fingers until the texture of coarse cornmeal. (Enjoy the great aroma of lemon and butter - my favorite part.) Add blueberries and any left over flour and lightly toss. Using a fork, gently toss flour/blueberry mixture while slowly adding, first the lemon juice and then the buttermilk or cream. Mix just until dough comes together. Hand-scoop 18 tennis ball sized scones and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to fully cool on a rack then drizzle on a generous amount of lemon glaze (recipe follows).
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Lemon Glaze
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cups confectioner's sugar
Juice 1 lemon into a small bowl. gently whisk in confectioner's sugar in 1/2 cup additions until thick, yet pourable consistency. Using a large spoon, drizzle cool scones with glaze. Allow to set for 5-10 minutes, then enjoy.



1 comment:

Lori C. said...

OK...so I'm finished with a big project and stressful week. Now I'm hungry and reading your foodie blog (isn't helping me). Funny, just last Sunday I tried to make lemon-blueberry scones, without a recipe & note I've never made scones before, and they were more like triangle shaped muffins. Not horrible, but not a scone either! I am going to try again this weekend with your recipe. :)

Why hadn't I read this first??