cheery cherry almond scones

For last month's book club we went the path of a more serious read, Set This House in Order, about two people with multiple personalities who become friends.  The rather grim nature of the book was offset by lively company and a delicious breakfast at 34th St. Bistro in Fremont.  At breakfast they served the table a basket of cherry almond scones, that we ate while we waited for the main dishes to arrive.  They were so good, that we were still thinking of them a few weeks later and decided to make a batch.

CHERRY & ALMOND SCONES

2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
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• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in cherries.
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• In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth. Add in almond extract and stir until incorporated. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
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• Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Savory Scones: Take 2

This is take two on savory scones. Not because the first batch didn't work, but because they are delicious and after reading another savory scone recipe, I decided you can pretty much use any combination of herbs and cheese that you like. So here it is, a random mishmash of the herbs from my mom's kitchen and chives from the yard, plus cheeses from the fridge.

Parmesan and Herb Scones 
Adapted from The Cheese Board: Collective Works

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely ground yellow cornmeal
½ stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
½ cup parmesan and cheddar, grated
½ cup chopped herbs (I used dried thyme, parsley, dill and oregano with chopped fresh chives)
½ cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.

Beat together the milk and the egg and then set aside. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, soda, cayenne pepper, cornmeal and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, working until you have no lumps bigger than a pea. Add herbs and cheese and stir or toss to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dries, reserving just a little of the milk-egg mixture to use as a glaze. Bring dough together gently with a wooden spoon.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it a few times. Pat dough into a round approximately ½-inch thick, and cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Place on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment. Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges with any remaining milk/egg mixture.


Place scones onto prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 15 minutes or until scones are light brown on top.Yields about 8-12 scones.
 
Enjoy!