Long Weekend (Blueberry Buttermilk Scones)

I woke up this morning more relaxed than I have in ages. School is finally out for the Summer, the kids woke up later than usual and we have a 4 day long weekend ahead of us! Coffee in one hand, Blueberry Buttermilk Scone in the other, I am enjoying watching the rain fall outside and looking forward to a quiet, peaceful day playing with the kids, cooking, baking and lazying around. Happy Summer!

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
Coarse sugar

In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add blueberries and mix lightly. Add buttermilk, one egg and one egg yolk (reserve the white). Mix carefully until blended. Drop dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead delicately (you don't want to crush the blueberries) to form a ball with the dough. With floured hands, transfer your ball of dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and pat down into a 1/2 inch thick circle. With a sharp knife, score dough into 12 slices (as with a pie). Brush top with reserved egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake in preheated 425°F oven for about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Local Strawberries, Finally! (Strawberry Scones Recipe)

For me, Summer doesn't officially start with the last day of school, or the day the municipal pools open, not even when the sun has shined for one whole week in a row. No, for me, Summer officially starts when we go to the farmer's market and half the stalls there are filled with baskets full of the plumpest, juiciest, reddest local strawberries. Ah, Québec strawberries, how I love those little jewels!

We usually eat most of them strait out of the basket, unadulterated, no sugar, nothing. But, the few that are left will most likely end up in baked goods. I like making strawberry muffins, but one morning I felt like trying scones. I was concerned that the berries would make the scone dough too wet, but the scones ended up being just temptingly moist. So tempting the whole batch was gone in a flash. Looks like it's time for a trip to the market!

Strawberry Scones
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup fresh strawberries, diced
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
Coarse or granulated sugar, for sprinkling

In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add strawberries, and mix carefully to coat them in flour.

Add buttermilk, one egg and one egg yolk (reserve the white). Mix until blended, trying not to crush the berries. Drop dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead delicately, just until the dough comes together.

With floured hands pat dough into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and with a sharp knife, score dough into 12 slices (as with a pie).

Brush top with reserved egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in preheated 425°F oven for about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Apple Cheddar Scones

As my mom was visiting this weekend, I was glad that this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was a breakfast treat. Karina of The Floured Apron chose Apple Cheddar Scones for us and since I love to use company as an excuse to make special breakfasts, this was perfect.

And I love scones, all kids of scones. I have a tried and true recipe, one that never fails. I can add anything to it, reduce the amount of sugar and make savory scones with it, it’s perfect. But, since I love scones so much, I was happy to try Dorie’s recipe, you know, to see if it would measure up to my go to scones. I did make a few changes though. Just a few! I used fresh apples instead of the dried apples called for in the recipe. I just didn’t relish the idea of dried apple chunks in my moist and tender scones. I used aged cheddar with port wine from Fromagerie Perron. That cheese is fabulous I tell you, fabulous, and I wanted to see if its taste would complement the apples.

The last change I made was to pat the dough into a circle onto a parchment lined pizza pan and score the scones into 12 wedges. I prefer baking them this way since I get the best of both worlds: the exterior of the scones get golden and crispy, and the middle stays moist and tender. Oh, and once the dough was scored I brushed it with a little milk and sprinkled the scones with a bit of coarse sugar, just for fun. That's it!

The resulting scones were incredible. We could taste the cheese and the apples, the scones weren’t too moist or too dry, they were just perfect. And the hint of crunch from the cornmeal was surprisingly pleasant. Mom heartily approved of this week's choice of recipe, so if you'd like to try these for yourselves you can find the recipe in Baking From My Home To Yours or on Karina's website. And don't forget to check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll!

PS: Happy Canada Day to all you Canadian foodies out there!