A Rolling Scone Gathers No Mess

This is kind of a scone mega post. Kind of. I'm rewarding my callers with brunch, and having 25 on a shift means this weekend is going be filled with cooking. And we all know I love brunch. I won't bore you with the 4 quiches I'm making (two spinach, sausage and potato, and lorraine), but I do want to post about the scones.

I've only ever made one scone recipe before, but they turned out so well that I'm going to alter that cranberry orange scone recipe in order to make blueberry lemon scones. It's changed somewhat. I added more butter and a little more cream. These scones are therefore richer, but the dough is also easier to handle. Additionally, I found a great recipe for maple pecan scones over at Kitchen Misfit that I just have to try. After all, if I ever want to own a bakery or anything of the sort when I retire, I had better starting mastering these classics. I'll start with an updated version of my cranberry orange scones.


Cranberry Orange Scones
yield: about 8 scones

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1-2 tbsp orange juice
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cream, egg, orange zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the cranberries and the cream mixture into the flour mixture with a fork until it forms a sticky, but hopefully manageable, dough.

Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds just so it comes together. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut the scones into 8 triangles using a sharp knife. This is much easier than using a biscuit cutter and having to reshape the dough. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice and confectioner's sugar to make a glaze. Drizzle the icing over the scones. These scones are not too sweet, but the icing adds a little punch of sugar and orange flavor.




Blueberry Lemon Scones
yield: about 8 scones

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries

extra cream and raw sugar to finish off the scones

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cream, egg, lemon zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the blueberries into the flour first, followed by the cream mixture. Use a fork until it forms a sticky dough. Be careful not to break up the blueberries too much.

Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds just so it comes together. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut the scones into 8 triangles using a sharp knife. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the scones all over with cream and sprinkle with the raw sugar.

Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. All in all, this is a wonderful variation on the cranberry orange recipe!




Maple Pecan Scones
yield: 16 scones but this recipe can be halved

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped pecans

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks (20 tbsp) butter, cold and cubed

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the oats and pecans out on a baking sheet. Toast in preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring halfway through. They should be fragrant and toasty when finished. Let cool.

Raise oven temperature to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until a coarse meal forms. Of course, a food processor makes this whole process much easier, but I digress. Add in the cooled oats and pecans.

In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, cream, maple syrup, and eggs until combined. Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until a cohesive dough forms. Divide the dough in half. Transfer each half to a lightly floured surface and pat into 7" circles. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and place the wedges on a parchment-line baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 16 - 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If you wish, make a glaze using about 3 tbsp maple syrup and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar to drizzle over the cooled scones.

Lemon Cupcakes!

Sunday is the birthday of one of my student supervisors at work. She requested lemon cupcakes with cherry buttercream frosting, so I can only oblige her. However, I love blueberries and lemon as well. So I'm going to use the same lemon cupcake and top one dozen with cherry buttercream. With the second dozen, I'm going to fill them with lemon curd and top them with a wild blueberry buttercream. Naturally, fresh fruit is always the best, but since these fruits are getting pulverized by the mixer, I'm going to use frozen wild blueberries (I was lucky enough to find some delicious fresh cherries at the local Fresh Market). I think the best way to incorporate the blueberries will require that I let them thaw and drain since I want to to avoid adding excess liquid to my frosting.

Incidentally, about a year ago, I made some amazing lime cupcakes filled with lime curd and topped with lime frosting, but I never posted the recipe. The original recipe for Key Lime Cupcakes is found over at Bon Appetit. I have to say I preferred regular limes. Key limes have a lemony quality that I'm not fond of. Either way, I'm using a modified version of that recipe for my lemon cupcakes.

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes
yield: 24 - 28 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs
5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (about 3-4 lemons worth)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if you're using a dark pan). Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the lemon juice and lemon zest. The mixture may look curdled; don't worry.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours. Add the flour in three additions alternately with the buttermilk in two additions. Using a scant 1/3 cup batter, pour into lined muffin tins. I had enough batter for about 28, though I was very careful not to overfill because that seems to be a problem with me. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.



Cherry Buttercream Frosting
yield: enough frosting for 1 dozen cupcakes

This recipe, and I think the whole idea my friend had for these cupcakes, comes from une Gamine dans la Cuisine. Those are some beautiful pictures!

1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt

3 to 4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup fresh cherries, finely chopped


Make sure to avoid adding too much of the cherry juice to the frosting. It can break down the buttercream.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and salt until light and fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the confectioner's sugar. After the sugar, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and cherries. If the frosting is a little loose because of the cherry juice, add more of the confectioner's sugar gradually until it's of spreading consistency.

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

3 to 4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup thawed, drained, wild blueberries

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and salt until fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the confectioner's sugar. After the sugar, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and blueberries. The blueberries don't need to be chopped because the mixer will pulverize them enough. If the frosting is loose, add more confectioner's sugar.

Lemon Curd
yield: about 3/4 cup lemon curd

2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

Combine zest, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow. Whisk in juice and set pan over low - medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. Usually, this takes 10 minutes of cooking over a medium low flame. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time and stir until combined before adding another piece. Cool. Cover and chill. This makes about 3/4 cup lemon curd (and can be used to make lime curd as well). This can be made up to 5 days in advance.

Notes on Assembly

For the cupcakes, both frosting recipes made plenty for the dozen cupcakes they needed to frost. So I may dial those recipes back in the future. I only used the lemon curd filling in the blueberry cupcakes to give them a real lemony bite. Otherwise, I simply used a rosette tip to pipe the frosting on top! Wonderful!