Feb 9

Feb 9 Cream Scones for Sunday Brunch

Baking scones is really so easy and rewarding. When you taste a particularly delicious one, you think there must be a secret; these must be hard to make. But this is not the case. Cream scones are the easiest of all. Simply stir cream or whole milk into the dried ingredients; there's the dough. It will be wet and look unmanageable. Turn it out onto a heavily floured surface, working more flour into the dough, and in a few seconds a soft workable dough can be patted out, ready to cut. The whole process takes just a very few minutes.

Any number of delicious variations can be made by just stirring into the flour a handful of dried cherries, raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, cinnamon, lemon or orange zest, all of these being in the SimplyCooking® Pantry.

When I bake scones, I’m taken back to the summers and sunny mornings spent at The Respite in Douglas, Michigan. The Respite's scones, made by the owner's mother, are the best I've ever tasted. They don't have them every day; only those days she feels like making them. It can be disappointing to go in and find no scones. Several years ago, I tried to get her secret but with no luck. With that I decided to experiment and get as close as I could to hers. I found cream scones, versus those using butter or buttermilk, provide the right crumb. While pastry flour, often called for in scone recipes, I found not necessary, I did learn found the brand of baking powder makes a difference. The Original Bakewell Cream produces the puffiest, highest scone. But for the Cream Scone recipe below, all brands work and will produce a nice soft pillow.

In the ten minutes it takes to bake the scones, my thoughts invariably wander back to The Respite. Respite means: an interval of rest or relief. What an invaluable thing these days. Music from the twenties lightly wafted through the air as if swirling about with the breeze. The door stood open inviting the light hum of conversation by the locals. It is, after all, a community congregating place. A woman read each day at the same table. Another group of four laughed and talk. Acqaintances recognizing each other and shaking hands, "I bought antiques from you." "How have you been? I want to catch up on all the news." While you are there time stands still. The world goes by ever so peacefully and cheerfully. With my tray of scones I hope to provide my family, today, with that interval of rest or relief to pay a bill, do a little computer work or homework, read, converse or just sit. A respite from life: whatever life brings.

cream scones

260 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour, plus additional for the counter

53 grams (1/4 cup) sugar, plus 2 tsp. for topping

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 handful dried cherries or cranberries

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a medium-sized bowl, measure and stir together the dry ingredients. (A bowl can be easily placed atop a digital scale and zeroed out after each addition.) Mix in the dried cherries and using the back of the spoon or spatula make a well in the center. Pour the cream into the well and stir gently. Empty the bowl onto a heavily floured surface. The mixture will be quite wet. Sprinkle additional flour on top of the dough and begin to knead, working in the additional flour. Knead until a soft dough forms. Pat it into a 9" circle. Brush the melted butter over the dough. Cut into 8 wedges. Mix 1 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tsp. sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle each wedge lightly with cinnamon sugar and place on an ungreased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Best served warm with Orange Butter.