Eating breakfast at home on weekends is something hubby and I look forward to ... a nice table setting, simple home-cooked meals eaten leisurely, the aroma of fresh brewed coffee filling the entire house ... ahhh ... pure bliss!
One of our favorite weekend teats is freshly home-baked scones topped
with mascarpone cream and jam . Scones {Scottish quick biscuit}got its
name from the Stone of Destiny {also known as Scone}, a place where
Scottish kings were once crowned.Although scones are typically part of afternoon tea in Scotland and England, having it first thing in the morning with my favorite tea always make my weekend!
Scones are typically served with clotted cream {or Devonshire cream}but I prefer my home-made mixture of mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, vanilla and icing sugar.
The secret to a crunchy on the outside, flaky on the inside scone is using very chilled butter and kneading the dough just enough to blend.
The moment of truth is when the mascarpone cream melts into the hot scone while the blueberry jam sweet syrup runs on the flaky bread.
Best served with tea or brewed coffee. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Vanilla Scones
{adapted from House of Annie}
Ingredients: 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp very cold, unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream {more for brushing}
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C).
Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse meal.
(At this point, you can freeze the mixture in a container for later.)
Add vanilla extract. Stir in heavy cream until it comes together in a
shaggy ball. It will still have lots of loose, sandy pieces. If you the mixture too loose and sandy, you can add a little bit more cream to
bind it a bit more — it shouldn’t affect the outcome if a bit more cream
is added.
Place batter on a floured surface and roughly work it into a ball.
Press the ball down into a rectangular shape.
Fold the dough like you’re folding a business envelope (in thirds, first
right fold to center, then left fold to center). Notice that it is
still quite shaggy and loose. That’s ok.
Now press the dough down into a circle. Cut it into 8 large or 16 small triangles.
Separate the individual scones and place them on a baking tray that is
lined with parchment paper. Brush the top of the scones with cream and
then sprinkle each one with a little sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown on top.
Marcarpone Cream
Ingredients:
4 ounces of maccarpone cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp icing sugar
Procedure:
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat until the mixture holds its shape and look like softly whipped cream. Use right away or cover and refrigerate the cream until serving.
