Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Scones



Next week is St Patrick's Day. Of course, this makes me think of all things Irish. I have never been to Ireland but it always sounds like such a magical place. They have fairies there. They have mist rising off the moors. Indeed it is referred to as the Emerald Isle. It also sounds like it could be kind of chilly there. But then you hear about the food and you warm right up. Tea and scones, corned beef and cabbage, whiskey, stews, oatmeal, stout, shepherds pie... and the list goes on. So, today is March 9. The countdown has begun. I want to try it all!

I started tonight. I made a batch of simple scones. They came out just the way I wanted them too. Tender and not too sweet. The perfect pairing for some wild blueberry jam I had in the fridge. Things get a little more complicated over the next couple of days recipe-wise, culminating in the corned beef and cabbage feast on the 17th. I know that one night I plan to get a stout cake in and definitely some Irish coffee so stay tuned!

Many recipes for scones call for self rising flour and buttermilk. I usually have neither of these items on hand and tonight when I decided to embark on my Irish cooking journey was no exception. I made due with what I had and things came out quite admirably.



Simple Scones
2 tbs milk
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbs butter at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 whipping cream or milk
1 tbs sugar

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix the 2 tbs milk and vinegar together and set aside. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together. Cut in the butter until it resembles course crumbs. Cut in the sugar. Beat together the egg and the milk mixture. Add to the flour mixture and mix until it starts coming together. Pour onto a cutting board and form a ball. Roll out to about 3/4 inch. Use a cookie cutter to cut into scones and place on a baking sheet. You should have 10 - 12 scones. Brush each with some cream and sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Serve with jam.

1 comment:

  1. sounds great! can't wait for the rest of the recipes :-D

    ReplyDelete

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