Blueberry and lemon buttermilk scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
I'll wear a blue-checked apron and a bandana in my hair, and let people call me "Miss Lucy, the blueberry lady," and I'll be famous for my Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones. Just thinking about my blueberry days calms me, but I do find myself with the craving for blueberry scones.
My blueberry scones are pretty much the bee's knees, tender and flaky, buttery and just sweet enough. I use my standard buttermilk scone dough, folding in frozen berries from last summer (I use fresh when I have them) and the zest of a lemon, laminating the berries in the dough. I brush them with a buttermilk wash and sprinkle demerara sugar over the tops, for a little bit of sweet crunch as you bite into the tender scone.
Here is my scone shaping method:
1. I begin by pressing the dough into a rectangle roughly 12 X 6 inches. (I used to have ruler in my kitchen drawer that was quite useful in these situations, but it was used for a homework project and never returned. I'm sure this never happens to you. A chopstick, conveniently, makes an adequate stand-in.)
Buttermilk scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
2. I scatter a cup of frozen blueberries over the dough, followed by the zest of a lemon.
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer//A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
6. Turn the dough and press into a rough rectangle approximately 12 X 6 inches.
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
9. And press back into the familiar 12 X 6 inch rectangle.
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
12. Cut each fourth lengthwise, for a total of eight sections.
Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Painting the scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
16. Sprinkle demerara sugar over the tops of scones. Granulated sugar will work, too.
Sprinkling the sugar by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Blueberry lemon scones fresh from the oven by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
A key to tender scones is to shred frozen butter into the dry ingredients. I store butter in the freezer, so this is usually convenient. In the wintertime, when my house is at 68 degrees, I can by using butter straight from the refrigerator, but in the summer, when the house is at 78 degrees, frozen butter makes a big difference.
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon. salt
2 1/2 teaspoons. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon. baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, plus extra
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Zest of 1 lemon
Half and half or milk or cream for glazing, optional
Demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing
1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the frozen butter and lightly mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.
2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.
3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle and follow shaping instructions above. Fold in 1 cup blueberries and lemon zest, then fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectange again and fold letter-style again. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.
Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.
10 comments:
These look delicious! I'm hoping to get some farm-fresh berries this weekend. If I do, I'll have to make these!
On another topic, would you like help testing/developing recipes? I'd love to work with you (for free of course!), if not in the summer then when school starts. I love cooking, but I'm in a big rut. I need to breathe some new life into the food I serve my family! -- Nicole Harterink
Hi Nicole, Thanks for reading! I could always use a test cook - let's talk soon!
Your blueberry scones look great! And I love your folding technique :-)
Looks yummy. Enjoyed the step-by-step photos
Shouldn't have looked at this today - now I want one - maybe I can get the girls out today and get the ingredients I'm missing. YUM!
Beautiful scones-I wish I had one now! Kitchen time is always more fun with a helper, too.
Looks great. Question though.. yours is the only recipe that does not have an EGG in it. Want to make these, but afraid to do so not using an egg. Does it need one??
Hi Brian and thanks for reading! Very good question about eggs - this recipe doesn't use eggs. It's like a very buttery sweet biscuit. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
These look heavenly!
Looks delicious!
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