Sunday, February 16, 2014

Preppy Food Experiment: Blueberry Scones

A little while back I wrote a post discussing the concept of "preppy food" and if it was good or bad. I had never considered preppy or Waspy food to be anything to write home about, but I recently came across a cookbook, aptly titled The Preppy Cookbook, and decided to check it out. 


First up on my preppy cooking experiment: a classic scone to enjoy with a cup of tea in the afternoon.








Recipe Notes 

This recipe is for simple scones that are typically served with jam and clotted cream. The author noted that you could add in 1/4 teaspoon of your favorite spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, allspice, etc.) or one cup of golden raisins or currants. I love currant scones but I didn't have any on hand so I decided to improvise with fresh blueberries.

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
9 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter cut unto pieces
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons of light cream
1 cup of fresh blueberries
1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and adjust the oven rack so that it's in the upper-middle part of oven. Place your baking sheet in the over to warm up.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

With a pastry cutter, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until the texture is like bread crumbs.

Create a small well in the center of the mixture and pour in the cream. Using a fork, slowly draw the flour mixture into the milk center until a soft dough forms.

Take the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface. Knead the dough very gently for 30 seconds. The dough should be on the loose side.

Gently roll out the dough until it's about 3/4 of an inch thick. You can make round scones with a two inch cookie cutter or make triangle scones by using a sharp knife. If making triangle scones, try and roll out the dough in a rectangle shape, as it makes much easier to create uniform scones.

Using a spatula, transfer the scones onto your heated baking sheet and brush the tops with a beaten egg wash.

Bake the scones until golden brown, which takes about nine minutes. Obviously every oven is different so keep and eye on them. Some will need eight minutes and some may need ten minutes.

Transfer the scones to a cooking rack.

Enjoy with your favorite jam or clotted cream.


Adapted from a recipe found in Christine Nunn's The Preppy Cookbook.


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