Sunday Brunch- 11.13.11- Famous Scones

I seemed to have teased you with this a few months ago and then forgot to actually post it. I am posting it with a bit stealth though.  Those of you who read it- you get the recipe. Thousands of these have been made at my old Bakery and enjoyed by many a Bozemanite, Butte resident &  Missoula coffee lovers. I only make these by special order these days and since Im not exactly the best morning person( getting better) Im not planning on making many more SCONES unless another form of my full on Bakery Cafe rises like the Phoenix and I have one hell of a great morning pastry chef on board. If that happens, a real live cookbook may appear as well. But then again, fresh adventures and new challenges are starting to beckon... either way,  it is time to share the love.

Its Elle's Belles 8th Birthday this weekend. Thank you for Eight great years of Elle's Belles. You made it what it became. Thank you for all. This recipe served me well.

Elle's Belles Sweet Scone

Yield: 6 full size scones or 12 mini scones

make these with a light 'bakers hand'

** you may use fresh, dried or frozen fruit for this scone. They can also be made the night before and refrigerated on a sheet pan before cooking- if fresh or dried fruit has been used. Just pull them out of the refrigerator in the morning and toss into a hot oven. Or you can have everything measured out ready to roll in the morning.  These are best right out of the oven and I personally feel only have a one day shelf life. That is a personal quality call. There are those who thought they were fine the second day- but they lose their crisp outer crust and that is just not acceptable in my world. Best- day of. Always cook on the  morning they will be eaten, never the night before.

Suggested combos:

Dried Apricot & Walnut

Dried Cherry & Almond

Dried Cranberry & Walnut

Frozen or fresh berries - mixed or alone.

Add Orange or Lemon Zest to add more flavor and depth. A tsp. per batch is acceptable. Orange zest with the cran walnut is wonderful.

Adding a drop of oil essence is fun too. Lavender, Lemon, Orange etc...

Oven: 375

Flour- 2  1/2 cups

Baking Powder- 1 TBS  plus 3/4 tsp

White Sugar- 1/3 cup

Kosher Salt- 1/2 tsp.

Cold Butter- 3/4 cup

Buttermilk-  7 oz.

Heavy Cream- 1/2 c

Vanilla 1/2 tsp. ( or other flavoring of choice)

Mixed Berries  or another fruit choice or combo - 2  1/4 cups ( 1 cup to be used for the top) **You can certainly back off on the fruit a bit as well 1  1/2 cup works well too.

1 egg

1/4 cup turbinado sugar or large crystal sugar

* At Elle's Belles we used Buttermilk as a means to keep them from being so fragile and breaking on delivery, it also served to cut the fat content. You can use all heavy cream if you like your scone to have a more traditional crumb. It works well with this recipe and is actually better than using the buttermilk option.

prepare egg wash - one egg beaten with 2 TBS of your buttermilk.

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

Cut cold butter into small chunks and cut into the flour mixture. You can use your hands for this, I prefer to, but if you have hot hands- it may be too much heat for the butter- use a pastry cutter. Cut until your butter chunks are no larger than the size of a small pea.

(if adding dry ingredients or FRESH fruit- add them now and mix in with dry.)

add the buttermilk and cream all at once and form into a ball. DO NOT OVERWORK the dough. It may be a bit loose and have sections that seem to be too dry.  Work it enough so that it just comes together. There may be pockets of cream that just need to be worked in a little bit.

Form a ball ( or two smaller balls if making mini scones)

at this point you may want to have a little flour handy on your work surface- a little off to the side. Your hands can get quite bogged down with dough. A light use of flour on your fingers and on the table surface helps reduce this tremendously.

lightly press into a circle about 6" across- brush with egg wash- be generous.

add your frozen fruit at this point working fast so the juice doesn't ruin your scones and turn them greenish purple (a poorly made scone ick!). Save some of the fruit to press  into the top of the flattened dough at the end (I will sometimes fold it a time or two- but dont do this unless you know what you are doing) reshape your disk- it should now be about 8" in diameter. Make sure you have an appealing fruit distribution on the top surface.  Sprinkle generously with Sugar in the Raw or a blonde turbinado sugar.

Cut into 6 pie shaped pieces. ( its fun to make other shapes if you like or leave them rough  by using the drop method. Just dont over work.I like them a little rustic looking. Do not feel like they have to be perfect. They are prettier if they are not perfect.

Place individually on a baking sheet for 15-18 minutes +- or until finished. You can tell when they are finished as the tops will no longer look doughy and raw. You can use a finger and touch down on the top of the scone- if it springs back- it is finished.

There is a lot of variation in how people make these- baking time is dependent upon thickness, wetness etc... so please cook until golden brown & done.

Let me know how they turn out!

It is very simple really. Enjoy them. Always made with, baked with, handcrafted with lots of Love.  And then there is this one I like even better- because its true:: from my heart, to hands, to you always, :) Make it a great week!  L.

Here is today's playlist as it happened:: perhaps next week you'll make them while you listen in to the Sunday Brunch. <3

Jackson Browne- These Days- Solo Acoustic Vol 1
Chris Trapper- Still In Me- The Few & The Far Between
Tony Furtado- Waste of the Moon- Deep Water
Colin McGrath- Squirrels- Window Seat
Patty Larkin- Winter Wind-Angels Running
Simon & Garfunkel- Bookends- Greatest Hits
Nick Drake- Which Will- Pink Moon
Neil Young- Tell Me Why- After the Gold Rush
Chris Trapper- Lonesome Parade- The Few & The Far Between
Red Horse- Forget to Breath- Red Horse
Tom Waits- Hold On- Mule Variations
Wailin' Jennies- Prairie Town- Firecracker
Steve Earle- God is God- I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
Jeffery Foucault- Speed of the Sound of Loneliness- Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes
Suzanne Vega- Edith Wharton's Figurines- Beauty & Crime
Wilco- One Sunday Morning- The Whole Love
Alison Krauss & Union Station- Dust Bowl Children- Paper Airplane
Chris Whitley- Wild Country-
Amos Lee- Windows are Rolled Down- itunes SoHo Live
Jeff Bridges- Everything But Love- Jeff Bridges
James Taylor- Something in the Way She Moves- KBCO Vol 1
Pete Townshend- North Country Girl- LIVE for Maryville Academy
Bob Dylan- It's All Over Now, Baby Blue- No Direction Home Bootleg Vol 7
Joni Mitchell- Cactus Tree- Miles of Aisles
The Waifs- Buffalo- Temptation
Gillian Welch- Six White Horses- The harrow & The Harvest
John McClellan- Second That Emotion- private stock
Lyle Lovett- Just the Morning- I Love Everybody
Joan Baez- The Lower Road- Day After Tomorrow
Stephen Stills- Helplessly Hoping- Just Roll Tape
Jayhawks- Pouring Rain at Dawn- Mockingbird Time
Carla Bruni- Quelqu'un M'a Dit- Paris
Adrienne- Flashlight- Flashlight
Ryan Adams-Lucky Now- Ashes and Fire
Tift Merrit- The Things That Everybody Does- See You On The Moon
Joe Jackson- It's Different for Girls- KBCO retrospective
Willy Porter- You Stay Here- High Wire Live
Ray LaMontagne- Like Rock & Roll and Radio- God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise
Justin Roth- Trembling Like a Train- Now You Know
Lucinda Williams- Can't Let Go- KBCO Retrospective 2
Kenny Chesney & Grace Potter- You & Tequila- Hemingway's Whiskey