St. Patrick’s Day is upon us and I wanted to make something Irish themed but something simply green. I was considering making Irish soda bread but was in the mood for a light dessert. Scones, which are popular in Britian and Ireland, fit the bill. Unlike the heavy, sweet baked goods you find in many coffee shops, these are a slightly sweet, fluffy version of an American biscuit. In Britian, and also in Labrador where I’m from, the word biscuit usually means a hard, dry, sweet cookie. But these scones are soft and light on the inside, and crisp on the outside. Perfect served warm, slathered in butter, jam, or clotted cream.
I couldn’t any clotted cream at my local grocery but I found Devon custard, which was fairly good even though I’m not a custard fan at all. Mr. M liked it. Clotted cream has a high fat content of about 65% and could be classified as a butter in the US. I have tried in and it’s worth the hunt if you’re hosting afternoon tea. It’s very similar to Fussel’s canned cream which is very popular in Newfoundland and Labrador. My grandfather loved it and would use it to top pies, tarts, and berries – especially cloudberries. As a side note, I found a fun little article on the popularity of Fussel’s in NL. apparently there are often shortages because of laws related to imported diary products. Apparently, “every time a Newfoundlander downs a can of Fussell’s, they are eating the cream ration of roughly 15 Canadians.” (National Post, September 19, 2013) LOL
Buttermilk Scones
Prep time 15 minutes, Total time 30 minutes Portion size 12 scones
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar
2-1/2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) cold butter, cubed
1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk
1 egg
Preparation:
In bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until in coarse crumbs with a few larger pieces. Whisk buttermilk with egg; using fork, stir into flour mixture just until dough forms.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead gently 10 times. Pat out to 10- x 7-inch (25 x 18 cm) rectangle; trim edges to straighten. Cut into 6 squares; cut each diagonally in half.
Place, 1 inch (2.5 cm apart) on parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake in 400°F (200°C) oven until golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
Change It Up
Apricot Almond Scones
Sprinkle 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots over ingredients just before stirring together. Shape and bake as directed; let cool completely. Stir together 1 cup icing sugar, 2 tbsp milk, dash almond extract and up to 1 tsp water, if necessary, to make thin icing; drizzle over scones. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds.
Dried Fruit and Lemon Scones
Add 2 tsp grated lemon zest to dry ingredients. Sprinkle 1/2 cup dried currants, raisins, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, chopped dried cherries or chopped prunes over ingredients just before stirring together. Shape and bake as directed.
Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
Add 1 tbsp grated lemon zest and 4 tsp poppy seeds to dry ingredients. Shape and bake as directed; let cool completely. Stir together 1 cup icing sugar, 2 tbsp lemon juice and up to 1 tsp water, if necessary, to make thin icing; drizzle over scones.
Nutritional Information Per scone: about cal 189 pro 4g total fat 9g sat. fat 5g carb 23g fibre 1g chol 37mg sodium 289mg
% RDI: calcium 6 iron 9 vit A 8 folate 26
Heather's Homemade 