Crumbly Currant Scones Food

CRUMBLIEST SCONES

Steps:

• First and foremost, brilliant scones are about having the confidence to do as little as possible, so do what I say and they'll be really great; and the second and third time you make them you'll get the dough into a solid mass even quicker, even better.
• Put the dried fruit into a bowl and pour over just enough orange juice to cover. Ideally, leave it for a couple of hours. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
• Put your butter, flour, baking powder, sugar and a good pinch of sea salt into a mixing bowl and use your thumbs and forefingers to break up the butter and rub it into the flour so you get little cornflake-sized pieces. Make a well in the middle of the dough, add the eggs and milk, and stir it up with a spatula.
• Drain your soaked fruit and add that to the mixture. Add a tiny splash of milk if needed, until you have a soft, dry dough. Move it around as little as possible to get it looking like a scruffy mass - at this point, you're done. Sprinkle over some flour, cover the bowl with clingfilm and pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it's about 2 to 3cm thick. With a 6cm round cutter or the rim of a glass, cut out circles from the dough and place them upside down on a baking sheet - they will rise better that way (so they say). Re-roll any offcuts to use up the dough.
• Brush the top of each scone with the extra milk or some melted butter and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until risen and golden. At that point, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool down a little.
• Serve with clotted cream and a little jam or lemon curd.

CRUMBLY CURRANT SCONES

Steps:

• Whisk flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs with a few large clumps. Fold in currants.
• Make a well in center of flour mixture; pour in 2 cups cream. Using your hands, draw dry ingredients over cream, gradually gathering and combining the dough until it just comes together. If it is too dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With lightly floured hands, gently pat dough into a 7-by-11-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 16 triangles. Transfer triangles to baking sheets lined with parchment paper; cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until very firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly beat egg yolk with remaining 1/4 cup cream in a small bowl; brush over tops of scones. Sprinkle generously with sanding sugar, if desired. Bake until golden and flecked with brown spots, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer scones to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Scones are best eaten the day they are baked.

CREAM SCONES WITH CURRANTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together 3/4 cup cream and egg. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Stir in currants. With a fork, stir in cream mixture until just combined. (The dough should be crumbly; do not overwork.)
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 6-inch circle. Cut into 6 wedges and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Bake until golden, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through.

CRUMBLY SCONES

Steps:

• Sift the dry ingredients together.
• Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Rub with the fingertips lightly. The mixture should resemble course crumbs. You can do this step in a food processor, but put the mixture into a bowl before adding the liquid.
• Add your liquid and mix lightly and gently with a butterknife or the fingertips. Don't over mix, this can create heavy scones.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press out gently into an oblong shape, about 20mm thick.
• Cut into squares or use a scone cutter.
• Pop them onto a baking tray. Brush the tops with a bit of milk and bake at 240C (475F) until done, about 10 minutes.
• VARIATIONS.
• Use 1/2 cup sour cream instead of the butter and the milk or milk and egg.
• Cheese scones: Add 1/2 cup finely grated cheddar and omit the sugar.
• Fruit scones: Add 1/2 cup raisins to the dough.

ORANGE-CURRANT SCONES

Steps:

• Combine currants and buttermilk in a small bowl.
• Combine flour and next 5 ingredients, stirring well. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Gradually add currants and buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Turn dough on lightly floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times. Pat dough to 3/4 inch thickness and cut with 3 inch biscuit cutter. Place scones on lightly greased baking sheet, brush scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400°F for 18 minutes or until golden.

CURRANT SCONES FROM LA PROVENCE IN BEVERLY HILLS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 of the eggs, the vanilla and buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir together to evenly distribute. (The dough will be crumbly.) Stir in the currants.
• Pour the mixture onto a lightly floured cutting board, and gently knead to form a cohesive mass. Be careful not to overmix, or the dough will be tough.
• Scoop the scones using a large (4-ounce) scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, or divide the dough into 14 portions (each portion will be about one-half cup), leaving 3 inches between each.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg with the milk to form an egg wash. Brush the egg wash over each of the scones.
• Bake the scones until puffed, lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 30 minutes, rotating halfway through baking for even coloring. Remove to a rack and cool slightly before serving.

LAVENDER-CURRANT SCONES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt together into a large mixing bowl.
• Use a pastry blender and cut in the cold butter until the consistency is coarse and crumbly.
• Add *1 cup* heavy cream, stirring just until moistened. Add more heavy cream (about 1 tablespoon at a time) if the mixture is too dry.
• Now stir in the currants, lavender, and orange zest.
• Turn out on lightly floured surface, and knead 4 or 5 times (don't overwork your dough). Chill dough for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Option #1: Roll out the dough 3/4 inch thick on a floured surface then cut with round biscuit cutter. Place each scone about 2 inches apart on a nonstick baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.
• Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 2 tablespoons of whipping cream. Sprinkle with raw sugar and few lavender flowers.
• Bake at 375 for 15 minute or until golden brown.
• Option #2: Roll out dough into a 1/2" thick round. Place the round in a preheated cast iron skillet, follow Step #8 above and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
• Set aside for 5 minutes after removing from oven then slice into 12 wedges. Note: I cut the recipe in half and used an 8-inch cast iron skillet. The scones were sliced into 8 wedges. We enjoyed our scones with a pot of peppermint tea, my scone with rose petal jam and Tasty Dish enjoyed hers with butter and local clover honey.

MINIATURE CREAM SCONES WITH CURRANTS

Steps:

• In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of the cream, the egg, the vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar until the mixture is combined well. In another bowl stir together the flour, the salt, the baking powder, and the baking soda and blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the currants and the cream mixture with a fork until the mixture just forms a sticky but manageable dough. Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured surface for 30 seconds, pat it into a 1/2-inch-thick round, and with a 1 1/2-inch fluted cutter cut it into rounds. Gather the scraps, repat the dough, and cut out more rounds. On an ungreased baking sheet brush the scones with the additional cream and sprinkle them with the additional sugar. Bake the scones in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are golden.