Scones

Interestingly enough, two of my friends came to me over the weekend regarding scones that each of them had made. I thought that was funny since I don't know too many people that would choose to make scones just because. So I was happy to answer whatever questions they had.

Ah, scones. Nothing like a hot cup of coffee and a blueberry scone with a hint of lemon. I didn't really start enjoying them until after culinary school. Crumbly (or flaky) scones. There is so much I can write today about scones, but let's keep it short and focus one of the basics.

Mixing. It is really easy to overmix scones. Unlike, cookies or cakes, scones are mixed until they just come together. What does that mean? Well, it will look like a messy mass of dough with some dry clumps. (There should be clumps of butter.) It should not feel too wet or sticky. You should be able to shape the dough, patting the dry clumps into the wet areas. You can always add more liquid (either cream or buttermilk, usually) as you go.

Why is it important that you mix scones to that point? If you overmix the dough, it becomes dense. The texture feels like a giant cookie, rather than the crumbly (flaky) scone. That texture comes from the small chunks of butter trapped between layers of dough. (Depending on the shape, scones can vary in texture. A crumbly scone is made when you make a rough lump of dough for each serving. To make a flaky scone, the dough is rolled out and then cut with a knife or with round cutters.)

A good tip in adding fruit to scones: I usually just add dried fruit. But if you want to add real fruit, like berries, for example. I recommend frozen berries only because the frozen berries won't bleed when you mix them in. Also, fold the berries in toward then end of our mixing so you get hunks of the fruit rather than having just swirls of fruit through the dough.