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Buttery Currant Cream Scones

Delicious, tender scones with a buttery texture and sweet currants. Perfect for breakfast or tea time.

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Pixicook editorial team

Delicious, tender scones with a buttery texture and sweet currants. Perfect for breakfast or tea time.

Ingredients for Buttery Currant Cream Scones

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serves
8 peoplechevron

Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

cups

Baking Powder

tablespoons

Sugar

tablespoons

Table Salt

teaspoons

Unsalted Butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

tablespoons

Currants

cups

How to Make Buttery Currant Cream Scones

1. Preheat Oven

Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees and positioning the oven rack in the middle. This ensures that the scones will bake evenly.

2. Mix Dry Ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. If you have a food processor, you can pulse these dry ingredients a few times to mix them well.

3. Cut in Butter

Next, add the chilled butter pieces to the bowl. Using a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal with a few larger lumps. These lumps of butter will create pockets that melt during baking, giving the scones their tender, flaky texture.

4. Add Currants

Now, stir in the currants until they are evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture. If you’re using a food processor, a single pulse should do the trick.

5. Combine with Cream

Pour the heavy cream into the bowl and gently stir with a rubber spatula or a fork until the dough just starts to come together. This should take about 30 seconds.

6. Knead Dough

Transfer the dough and any remaining dry bits onto your countertop. Knead the dough just a few times until it forms a rough, slightly sticky ball.

7. Shape and Cut Dough

Shape the dough into a circle and cut it into 8 equal wedges. This pre-cutting step ensures that the scones will cook evenly.

8. Bake Scones

Place the wedges on an ungreased baking sheet, making sure they have a bit of space between them. Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown.

9. Cool and Serve

Once baked, transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy your scones warm or at room temperature.

Variations

Chocolate Chip Scones

Add chocolate chips to the dough and a chocolate drizzle on top.

Blueberry Lemon Scones

Add fresh or frozen blueberries and lemon zest to the dough, and perhaps a lemon glaze on top.

Orange Cranberry Scones

Mix in dried cranberries and orange zest, and finish with an orange glaze.

Caramel Pecan Scones

Incorporate chopped pecans and swirl in caramel sauce before baking.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Add pumpkin puree (reduce the cream to compensate for the additional moisture), and a mix of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Pitfalls and tips

Ingredient Temperature

Keep your butter and cream cold until the very moment they are used. This ensures that the butter remains in small, solid pieces which will melt in the oven, creating steam pockets that contribute to a flaky texture.

Oven Temperature

Preheat your oven and make sure it has reached the correct baking temperature before your scones go in. An oven thermometer can help ensure accuracy for the perfect bake.

Gentle Handling

When you mix the dough, be as gentle as possible. Overworking the dough will develop the gluten and result in tough scones. Mix until just combined for a tender crumb.

Watch The Oven

Oven temperatures can vary and so can baking times. Start checking your scones a few minutes before the recipe suggests; they should be golden brown and firm to the touch when done.

Precise Cutting

Use a sharp cutter and press straight down without twisting. Twisting the cutter can seal the edges of the dough and impede the rise. If you don’t have a cutter, a sharp knife will do, just make sure to cut straight down.

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