According to Wikipedia, the word scone may come from the Middle Dutch word for “fine white bread.” Given all the dense, dry, indigestible scones I’ve tasted in this country, the word scone might as well come from the Middle Dutch for “rock.”
My wife Yasmin, who’s been baking scones for years— thousands at a time for a wholesale bakery and a few dozen at a time for pastry baskets at Duo and Olivea — lists the following errors in scone making: overmixing the dough (which results in tough scones), adding too much liquid (scones that flatten out when you bake them), underbaking (gummy scones) or overbaking (dry scones).
A good scone should stand up rather than spread; it should have a crunchy, golden-brown exterior, and a tender, flaky — but not cakelike — crumb. For a tender crumb, Yasmin uses very cold butter and a combination of cream with a little buttermilk — add too much buttermilk and you have a biscuit instead of a scone. For the golden- brown exterior, she brushes them with some heavy cream.
The classic scone is made with currants; Yasmin adds a little finely grated lemon zest to perk up the flavor.
Americans eat their scones on the run, which means that scones in this country are sweeter than scones in England and Scotland, which are meant to be served with clotted cream or butter and jam or with a jar of lemon curd, and consumed while sitting down with a pot of tea. This recipe is closer to the English style; at home, we eat them with Kerrygold butter and a good strawberry jam.
John Broening cooks at Duo and Olivea restaurants in Denver.
Lemon Currant Scones
Makes 8 scones.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons diced cold butter
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup Zante currants
1/2 cup heavy cream (plus a little extra for glazing)
1/4 cup buttermilk
Directions
Preheat oven to 345 degrees.
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Quickly pulse in the lemon zest and currants. Pulse in the cream and buttermilk just until combined.
Turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface, and pat into a disc about 8 inches in diameter and 1 inch high. With a very sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 equal-sized wedges.
Transfer the wedges to a cookie sheet, brush evenly with cream, and bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Cool at least 10 minutes and serve with soft butter and jam or lemon curd.
