I am known to get up to ridiculous baking projects at odd hours of the night, usually in an attempt to satiate a craving for something sweet after dinner. It is not uncommon for the resident eater to find me messing up the kitchen at 11pm making meringue cookies or some other amazing thing I found on the Internet that I needed to make immediately.
Often these late night baking expeditions result in even later night snacking: something that I think will only take 20 minutes winds up taking an hour when you add in time for measuring and baking. The other night, however, I came across Martha Stewart’s recipe for cream scones and, no joke — half an hour later, they were on my coffee table with a dollop of strawberry jam and a pot of tea like some kind of buttery miracle, before prime time was even over. This is an impulse that even the most sensible of you should follow, no matter what time it is (and by “sensible,” I mean “not inclined to bake a blueberry pudding cake at midnight”).
Scones get a bad rap, I think, because the ones you buy in coffee shops are crumbly, dry sadness pucks. They’re just there so you’ll buy more tea, because otherwise it’s like eating a handful of dust and currants. Proper English cream scones, however, are a whole other story: made with heavy cream and eggs, they’re moist, light, flaky and slightly sweet, and serve as a perfect canvas for your favourite jam and some softly whipped cream.
There are lots of ways to dress these scones up: add some grated lemon zest, throw in a cup of blueberries or cut the sugar sprinkle and make a more savoury variation (cheddar? bacon? fresh herbs?) to serve with brunch. But the classic plain scone is just as good and uses basic ingredients you are likely to have in your kitchen at 10pm.
The key to getting light and airy scones is to mix your dry ingredients well, and not to overwork the dough — you want to mix the wet and dry ingredients so it’s just combined and no more. I recommend getting a pastry cutter to make quick work of cutting the butter into the flour, but you can also do this using two knives — the smaller you cut the butter before adding, the less time this will take.
You can cut the scones in whatever shape you like using a cookie cutter, but the fastest and easiest method is to cut into triangles, avoiding the need to use up any scraps and overwork the dough. Bake until *just* golden on top. Scones will keep in an airtight container for a day or two (reheating gently in an oven will revive them). You can also freeze baked scones — let them cool completely, wrap in aluminum foil and put in an airtight freezer bag. To reheat from frozen, place in a 350F oven for 8-10 minutes.
Cream Scones
Makes 8-10 scones
adapted slightly this recipe
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until largest pieces are the size of small peas.
3. In a separate bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the cream and eggs with a fork. Make a well in the center of flour mixture, and pour in cream mixture. Stir lightly with fork just until the dough comes together (do not overmix).
4. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, gently pat dough into a 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch rectangle, about 3/4-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into quarters, then cut each quarter diagonally so you have 8 triangles. Transfer to lined baking sheet.
5. Brush tops of scones with cream, and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake scones until light golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer scones to wire racks, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with jam and clotted cream, creme fraiche, whipped cream, or butter.
Sara Chan is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer, food enthusiast, unprofessional home chef and even less professional food photographer. Her favourite food group is pork. Sara’s column appears every other Tuesday here on lawandstyle.ca.