Warm Scones with Lemon Curd

The first course of Hom Nom's first anniversary brunch was yummy, fresh baked scones.  When I was younger, there was a nearby fair that sold scones, served with jam, and I remembered how much I loved them. I also remember buying the "fair scone" mix at the grocery store and making them with my friends during sleepovers.  Um, oh, and these were also ridiculously easy to make.

I know Sanjay would only approve of these scones if they were made with Icelandic butter...

This is what the scones will look like after you shape them into the 8x8 pan.

Um, doesn't this look similar to what Little Red Riding Hood would have in her basket?

Surgeon's General Warning: lemon curd probably contains 100x your daily required intake of cholesterol. Well, Hom Nom only turns one once...

I borrowed the scones recipe from Smitten Kitchen with only minor adjustments.

Warm Scones 


Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (the original recipe calls for a low protein flour, but I just used whole foods brand flour and it worked fine)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream

Smitten Kitchen's original recipe called for currants - I left them out because I prefer plain scones. 

Adjusted the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk (or pulse in a food processor) together six times.

If making this by hand, use your fingertips and quickly cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal (a few lumps of butter are okay).  Transfer the dough to a large bowl.

Stir in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form.  

Transfer all the dough to a lightly floured countertop until it forms a round sticky ball.  Take an 8x8 square baking pan and place the dough into it.  Flip it over onto the counter top and cut the dough into triangles.  

Place the scones on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them for about 12-15 minutes.

Note: I prepared these scones in advance of my brunch so I could just pop them into the oven.  If you want to do this, prepare the scones as directed, but leave out the baking step.  Once you cut them into triangles, flash freeze them for about 30 minutes.  Then, individually wrap them.  When you are ready to bake them, remove the wrap and bake at 425, but only for a few minutes more.  I set the time for 15 minutes and checked on them - and baked for another 3-4 minutes after that. 

Lemon Curd, recipe adapted from Saveur

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon zest (about 4-5 whole lemons)
• 8 egg yolks
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces (well chilled)

Whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, egg yolks and eggs over medium heat.  Whisk in the lemon juice and cook, stirring over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken (also - I think the mixture will make an interesting popping-like noise).  Make sure you thicken it enough or else you will end up with too watery of lemon curd (yes this happened in my first batch.  I am now saving that batch for lemon curd ice cream).  

Remove from heat and mix in the butter, one at a time, until incorporated.  

Strain through a sieve into a large bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill.  

Both recipes were a hit.  I also served the scones with some blackberry jam I found at Wednesday's farmers market.  Later on, Mai's houseguest and friend Mary couldn't get enough of the scones and luckily was able to store some away for a mid-week indulgence.

{Let's Get This Party Started!}