Cherry-Almond Scones

My good friend gave me a cookbook for Christmas this year (and yes, I opened it already, but with her permission), and there were some scone recipes in it that I just had to try out. The first one, a cherry-almond scone recipe which was pretty good. I didn't take pictures this time, so you'll have to just make do with picturing it in your mind. Despite the long list of ingredients, these were simple to throw together.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
10 tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces (or non-dairy margarine or butter)
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup sliced, blanched almonds, toasted
1 cup buttermilk (or soymilk)
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
About 1/4 cup heavy cream (or soymilk), for brushing

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Whisk all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl.

2. In a smaller bowl or large measuring cup, combine 1 cup buttermilk, the vanilla and almond extracts and set aside.

3. Add the chopped up, cold butter to the dry ingredients and work in with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Add the sliced almonds and dried cherries to the butter and dry ingredients mixture.

5. Add the buttermilk and extracts to the dry mixture and stir until the ingredients just come together. Then turn out onto a lightly floured countertop, give it another knead so that it sticks together, and flatten into a 10-inch round. With a knife or bench scraper, cut into eight triangles.

6. Place the scones on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and brush generously with the heavy cream. If desired, you can sprinkle some sugar on top.

7. Put in the oven and bake at 425ºF for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking pan, then reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF and bake until golden brown on top, about 15 more minutes.

8. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Results:
I was pleased with these scones. They were simple to throw together, and had a great taste. A bit chunky what with the almonds and cherries, but not overly so. If I made them again, and I probably will, I would omit the lemon zest. I'm not a fan of lemon, personally, and I could just taste the lemon in there. It didn't add to the flavor for me, so I would definitely leave that out next time.

Dairy-free Update, 2013:
I made these scones for a friend with a dairy allergy by substituting soy milk and Nucoa for the buttermilk/cream and butter, respectively. They turned out just as good as the dairy version.

Fresh Cherry Scones

Baking scones is always more enjoyable when there's someone to share them with. And, it helps when I get a taste-tester who enjoys partaking in the results of a new scone recipe. Every filled scone recipe I have made prior to this one has turned out soupy and disappointing. But, finally, I managed to get one to work! After adjusting the Berry Scone recipe from the Test Kitchen's Baking cookbook, I ended up with the following recipe--which held together to produce beautiful, light, airy scones with fresh cherries.






The Ingredients:

5 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups pitted and halved cherries
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
scant 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda


The Instructions:


1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Whisk the milk and sour cream together in a large measuring cup. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a medium bowl.


2. Add the chilled butter, using your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse sand.


3. Fold in the milk mixture until the dough just comes together, but is still a little floury. (You may have extra of the milk mixture.)


4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead 6 to 8 times until the dough holds together.


5. Flatten the dough into a square. Fold the bottom 1/3 of the dough up, and then fold the top 1/3 down over the bottom to make an "envelope". Then fold the dough in half lengthwise and place on a plate (see following pictures). Chill in the freezer for five minutes.

Fresh Cherries, pitted and halved

6. Remove the dough from the freezer and place on a lightly floured counter. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a 12-inch square. You can cover with parchment paper before rolling to avoid having the pin stick.


7. Take the cherries and spread over the top of the dough evenly, pressing in gently. Fold up the lower 1/3 of the dough and then fold down the top 1/3 of the dough. Pinch the seams together, dabbing with water if necessary to smooth the seam.


8. Place the log seam side down and flatten into a long rectangle using your palms, approximately 12 inches by 4 inches. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into eighths. 


9. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, spread the scones so that they do not touch. (Optional) Brush the tops with milk or melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar.


10. Bake at 425ºF about 18-25 minutes, or until golden, rotating halfway through. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

The Process:

Prepare ingredients:
Whole milk, Fresh Cherries,
Sour Cream, Sugar, Unsalted Butter,
Salt, Baking Powder & Soda

Dough before being turned out. It should still be rather floury and unkneaded.

Knead a few times and flatten into a 12-inch square, fold up the bottom, then fold down the top.

Fold in half lengthwise.

Covered with parchment paper and rolled out.

Evenly placed cherries before folding.

Tri-folded with the seam pinched shut.

Dough flattened into a log.

Use a sharp knife to slice the dough log into eighths.

Evenly space the scones on the parchment paper to bake. Can be baked as above.

Or brush with a light layer of milk (or melted butter) and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Baked until golden, 18-25 minutes.

Results:

I think the picture almost speaks for itself, doesn't it?

But since I've taken the time to write this blog, I'll elaborate. It's light, airy, rich without being dense, and made with fresh cherries. How can it get any better? 


These are definitely best fresh or just cooled. Since they're made with fresh fruit, it's best to refrigerate them after baking, but that can make them go stale quicker. 


If you only want a few scones, you could make a couple and freeze the rest for up to one month. If you freeze them, bake them at the same temperature (425ºF) but increase the time by approximately 5-10 minutes. Since every oven is different, keep an eye on them and bake until golden (it's even more important to keep a close eye on them if baking frozen, as I've found baking time varies widely).

Bannock Bread

Branching out from my habitual scones, I decided to try "Bannock Bread", also having extra buttermilk in the fridge I needed to use. I was pleasantly surprised with this recipe, found here. I did not have currents, so I substituted dried Montmorency Cherries instead, and they tasted excellent in this bread. I imagine almost any dried fruit would suffice here.

All purpose flour, Granulated sugar, Butter, Buttermilk,
Archer's Farm Montgomery Cherries, Baking Soda,
Baking Powder & Salt

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup dried currants

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. 
2. Combine dried ingredients except currants. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, mix butter in until it looks like sand. Stir in currants. Add buttermilk until dough is soft.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Shape dough into a 7 inch round. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On top of the loaf, cut 1/2 inch deep cross.
4. Bake for 40 minutes.

The Process:

Dry ingredients plus butter rubbed in.

This is my "soft dough". My dough only required 3/4 cup of buttermilk in order to reach this
consistency, so don't add it all at once.

Stirring in the Cherries. It was difficult to stir them in well, so depend on the kneading for a little bit more mixing.

After being kneaded for a few minutes (my dough also did not require five minutes of kneading in order to reach this elastic state). The Cherries tended to stay towards the top of the dough, despite my best efforts to mix them in well.

Flattened the dough ball into a disc while on the baking sheet.

I scored the top of my loaf with a cross using a razor blade and then brushed the top with a bit of extra buttermilk. 

My loaf emerged looking beautiful and mouth watering!

Notes & Tips:

• Like I said, I used dried Montgomery Cherries here (Archer's Farm, found at Target), and they tasted excellent in this bread. 
• In order to make a prettier loaf, I brushed the top of my loaf with a little bit extra buttermilk.
• I only needed 3/4 cup of buttermilk in order to get a soft dough, and liked the result. However, if you added more of the buttermilk, the loaf would be moister.
• I found that the fresh bread tasted best plain, without any type of butter or curd, etc. It does, however, taste excellent a couple days later toasted, with a light spread of butter to moisten it up again.
• This Bannock Bread had a taste reminiscent of Irish Soda Bread, but was softer, moister and a touch sweeter.

Look at that bread!

Results:


I will definitely make this again, even bought currants to try it as directed! The loaf was moist and not crumbly at all. It did have an Irish Soda Bread flavor to the dough, but the Cherries and little bit of sugar sweetened it up nicely.