praise the scone

...and pass the butter.
Its been a long time coming, tracking the elusive combination of elements, but here's the final outcome of my "Study in Scone". Many thanks to those of you who subjected yourselves to the seemingly endless days, weeks, months [OMG! ...has it been years?] of scone consumption...may we never speak of this again.



pre-heat @ 375
4 C. all purpose flour
5 T. *sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 C. cold unsalted butter cubbed
2 large eggs
1 C. plus 2 T. buttermilk or cream
2. t. vanilla, orange or almond oil
3/4 C. blanched almonds
3/4 C. currants, cherries or apricots (fresh are best!)
raw sugar for dusting

*note:
sugar is a term I use VERY loosely, experiment with agave, stevia, etc.

-keep ingredients cold-- flour can live in the freezer for this purpose
-sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda
-crumble butter in
-in another bowl whisk eggs, vanilla, buttermilk
-combine wet and dry
-add nuts and fruit
-mix just enough to incorporate
-shape into round flat disks (being a fan of the small scone, I make at least 3 disks)
-place the disks in el fridgo for at least 20 minutes (you could also freeze them @ this point)
-cut disks into triangles
-dust with sugar
-bake on parchment or exopat for 20 min.