I have wanted to make scones ever since I went to Alice's Tea Cup in New York. I was pretty excited when I bought their cookbook. I even bought a set of biscuit cutters from Williams Sonoma.
It took me three attempts to make an edible scone! I'm glad that I kept trying because they taste amazing. The middle is perfectly fluffy. They were supposed to be a summer mixed berry but the fresh berries I bought went in the bin along with the sticky messy dough of the first two failures.
Gross!
My first two attempts were using the Alice book and the dough was too sticky. I think the recipe calls for too much buttermilk. If anyone has successfully made scones from the book let me know! I used some dark chocolate chips and dried fruit that I luckily had in my baking cabinet for round three. In the end I ended up using some of the tips from the book and measurements from Joy of Baking website.
Scone at Alice's in NY
As I live in England, scones are pretty rife! They're not as big as the one I had in the US and are served with clotted cream and jam. My favorite are the ones at Richmond Tea Box. They serve sweet scones like Lemon & Poppy seed as well as savory scones.
Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones
adapted from Alice's Tea Cup and Joy of Baking (makes approximately 8 scones)
Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour (for UK bakers)/All purpose flour (for US bakers)
1/4 cup sugar plus a little more for sprinkling (I used vanilla sugar for sprinkling
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick/115g unsalted butter, cold
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk (I made my own by mixing soy milk with a dash of apple cider vinegar)
some milk or cream for brushing on top.
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F/200 C. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut the butter into small cubes and blend into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives. The mixture should be like crumbs.
2. Stir in the chocolate chips and cherries until evenly distributed. Add the vanilla to the buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour small amounts at a time and stir. 2/3 cup buttermilk was enough for me but you may need a little more. If you add too much you can add in a little more flour.
3. Lightly flour a clean surface and pat the dough into a circle (don't knead). The dough should be one and a half inches thick. Using a biscuit cutter cut out rounds from the dough. Don't twist the cutter or the scones will come out flat. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet (or good non stick sheet).
4. Gather the scraps and keep cutting rounds (don't knead the dough). If you don't have a biscuit cutter cut little triangle slices (like pizza) from the circle of dough.
5. Brush with some milk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Serve with butter and jam if desired and don't forget a cup of tea!
