Yep, it happened.  My fancy tea needs got a little out of control and I had to start making it at home to stay in budget.  Scones…a sweet, fluffy, bite of love.  And a perfect carrier for Lemon Curd!  Start these at least 4 hours before you want to eat, or up to 4 weeks!

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cup cake flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 8 ounces butter, cold, cut into bits
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream, plus some for brushing
  • some sugar for sprinkling, I use demarara, but plain granulated works fine
  1. Set up the stand mixer with the whisk attachment.  Add both of the flours, baking powder and soda, and the salt.  Mix to combine.
  2. Add all of the cold butter.  Using your hands, toss the butter into the dry ingredients.  Squish the butter bits between your thumb and forefinger, and coat with the flour.  Turn your mixer to low until the butter starts to get broken up, about 2 minutes.  Turn the machine off.  Poke at the flour and check on the butter bits.  They should be small now – if not, mix for another minute.
  3. With the motor running on low, add the sour cream and heavy cream.  Slowly bring to medium and mix until a dough forms.  Turn off the machine, use a spatula to give one last mix and make sure nothing is stuck on the bottom.
  4. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap on the counter.  Dump the dough onto the plastic,cover with another sheet of plastic. Pat the dough out into a square – about 1 1/2 inches thick, 8″ x 12″.  Peel off the top sheet of plastic and use your knife or pizza wheel to cut the dough into rectangles or triangles.  I like rectangles for more crunchy corners!
  5. Move the scone dough pieces to a baking sheet and freeze solid – at least 3 hours.  When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400*
  6. Take the scones out of the freezer, brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.  This is where I have to decide if I’m making all of them or having some sense of portion control!  Bake the scones until very lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then serve warm.

* You can get fancy and add chocolate chips, dried currants or candied ginger.  I serve them with lemon curd and strawberry-ginger jam, and of course, clotted cream.  OK, its mascarpone cheese because I always have that in the fridge.