Blackberry Scones

The first week of 2012 was kind of lousy for Jeff and me, with new annoyances popping up almost daily. Such as minor water damage from a leaky washing machine, a dryer that wouldn't heat up, a pet portrait whose background stymied me for about a day, a Bun who we thought may have been constipated again but it was a false alarm, reliable 4:30 a.m. insomnia, a malted crisp tart that didn't firm up and was a nightmare to cut into at a dinner party (my fault; I skipped step #432 while making it). Also Glass Gems 2 wasn't selected for the Sky Gallery. I'm a little disappointed about that, but as always you can never feel too upset when your art gets rejected, and you can never feel too happy when it gets accepted. It's all so subjective, and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. ETC.

(Above: Bun and Jeff taking a disco nap.)

But yesterday something nice happened: Bun was reunited with her University of Illinois doctor Blake Marcum, who you may remember from such exciting posts as Bun Health Mega Crisis.

Last week Blake asked me to paint a portrait of a very Bunlike cat named Charli as a surprise for his wife Lindsey. Charli died of feline leukemia a couple of months ago, and Blake wanted something to memorialize their special girl. Blake saved Bun's life, so I was more than happy to oblige and gave him my S.F.R.D. (Standard Fecal Removal Discount). Blake and Lindsey stopped by our house on Saturday morning and I gave her the painting. She received it with a shocked, big smile and some tears--a heartwarming scene and gratifying for me to be sure, as I rarely get to witness my clients' reactions. Lindsey and Blake played with our cats and looked at my paintings for a while. Bun was standoffish but curious, keeping a close eye on our visitors, one of whom probably smelled like a place Bun would like to forget. They were charmed by her judgy little face nevertheless, and Bun eventually warmed up to them, going so far as to roll around on the floor and display her glorious belly for a few seconds, like so.

(See that unspotted, blondish area between Bun's back legs? That is Bun's celebrated "palomino patch.")

A couple of weeks ago, I painted another pet portrait for a very happy client in Virginia. Pets, pets, pets! This dog's name is Honey (and Honey is still alive). Here she is along with my portrait of Charli.

The photos I had to work with were a little blurry and a little flashbulb zombie-eyed, but I can work with that kind of source material if I have to and change backgrounds at the client's request, as I did with these.

Wow, this post is so not about scones yet.

This morning, as Jeff fine-tuned and moved our fixed washer and dryer back into place, I felt like making scones to celebrate the fact that we had survived the hassles of last week. The recipe is by Tyler Florence and originally used blueberries, which are a lot easier to work with than blackberries. The blackberries were mysteriously on sale last week ($1 per pint: bizarre!), so how could I refuse? Here's a reminder of what these scones look like:

They're kind of free-form and not the tight, dry triangles you might be used to. They're not going to win any scone beauty pageants. But taste-wise, they are so much better than those dry triangles. They melt in your mouth and the glaze provides a zippy citrus flavor burst that works well with blueberries (and now blackberries). You will probably hate making them thanks to a few messy steps detailed below, but you will love eating them. I've left my own copious notes in italics.

INGREDIENTS

for the scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
• 1 cup fresh blueberries <--or blackberries if you're a glutton for punishment; some people claim to have used frozen fruit and had an easier time, but I can't vouch for them.
• 1 cup heavy cream

for the lemon glaze

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2-3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted <--probably more like 3 cups
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 lemon, zest finely grated

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. I managed to do all of this in my food processor in about 15 seconds. I used to be old-school when it came to cutting butter into a pastry, but now I'm a firm believer in the ease of a food processor. Both will work, of course. Post-processing, transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough. You will hate doing this because the dough is tough and "shaggy," and the blue/blackberries will not want to become incorporated. Use your hands to distribute the berries as evenly as you can throughout the dough, trying not to squash them. You will squash some of them, though. It's unavoidable and it's ultimately okay.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Your rectangle will suck and look rough. Cut the rectangle in half then cut the pieces in half again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in half on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet. IF YOU CAN! Things are going to fall apart during the transfer from floured surface to cookie sheet. The dough is going to seem like it's way too dry, especially if you're making these in a cold kitchen and the butter isn't even close to melting. Oh, and the blackberries will be like: We want no part of this. My advice is to work the messy mounds into semi-triangular shapes once you've got them on the cookie sheet. Put a little cream and/or water on your hands as you attempt to organize them. They do not have to be perfect. No one will care about shape perfection once they taste these, I assure you.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and golden brown. Mine took 15 and were pale-golden. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.

You can make the lemon glaze in a double boiler, or for a simpler alternative, you can zap it in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice with the confectioners' until dissolved in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water for the double-boiler method, or in a microwave-safe bowl. Whisk in the butter (cut into small chunks) and lemon zest. Either nuke the glaze for 30 seconds or continue whisking in the double boiler. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving. A word about this glaze: it makes two tons of glaze. There is no way you will ever need this much glaze, not even if you flat-out dunk the scones into it each time you take a bite. However, the glaze is awesome and you could probably drizzle it over fruit or bland cookies/cakes later. If that idea does not appeal to you, feel free to cut the glaze recipe in half. Tyler's recipe also makes a very runny glaze, so you might want to increase the amount of powdered sugar to 3 cups if you plan to make the entire recipe. Play around with it until you have a consistency that works for you.

Again: yummy scone. Eyes on the prize.

Comments

[Caroline]

Perhaps Tyler is imagining a bowl-of-cereal ratio for the scones and glaze, then you mainline the remaining half cup of glaze straight out of the bowl.

[Kristin]

There must have been some sort of blackberry surplus in the midwest or something--they were really cheap here in Michigan as well last week.
These look delicious. Bookmarking!

[bj]

Yummm!!! Scones. Never made 'em, love to eat them though. Panera is a favorite spot with a large cappucino with whipped cream.

Always enjoy your narratives.

[Caroline]

Came back to add: Blackberries were $5.98 here "on sale" yesterday. No kidding.

[Kelly]

Caroline: a travesty!

Thanks for reading, all. :)

[Missy]

I have used this scone recipe several times with yummy success. Blueberries are my favorite but I've used strawberries as well. You are right, WAY too much glaze.