I don’t often make scones, mainly because, rather obtusely, I like them so much. I am in danger of consuming far too many, just by myself. For such a simple foodstuff, scones are a glorious and delicious treat.
Here I’ve combined the season’s fresh, dark and luscious cherries with my ‘standard’ scone recipe. Not only are they tasty, they have a pleasing marbled effect from the cherry juice.
Notes
I’ve chosen to make these in a traditional round, but you could make individual, circular scones. Reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes to make individual scones.
I have a few other unique scone recipes I’ve developed that you may also like to try:
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Baking tray, lined with baking parchment (or alternative)
- Wire cooling rack
- Scales, large knife, spoon
Ingredients
- 300g plain flour
- 90g caster sugar
- 125g unsalted butter
- 1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50g milk (any)
- 8-10 fresh, ripe cherries – stones removed and chopped or torn roughly
- A little extra flour
Method
- Warm the oven to 170C fan / 190C conventional
- Rub the flour and butter together until it forms crumbs (some little bits of unincorporated butter are fine)
- Mix all the other ingredients together – except for the cherries
- Once the rest of the ingredients are mixed in, add the cherries and gently mix it all into a ball, ensuring the cherries are distributed throughout but do not overwork. (The reason for leaving the cherries to the very last is so the juice creates a marbled look, rather than just turning the dough pink)
- On a lightly floured piece of baking parchment, pat down the ball of dough into a disc, about 16-18cm across and about 4cm high.
- Lift up the scone dough with the parchment and place on the baking tray
- Cut the disc into six pieces and transfer to the oven. (Leave the scones pushed together to help keep their shape for now)
- Bake for 25 minutes, then take the tray out and re-cut the scones (they will have slightly fused together again)
- Separate the scones by pushing them away from each other so they cook throughout
- Place back in the oven for 5-8 additional minutes
- Once baked, leave to cool, although they’re pretty lovely whilst still a little warm
I like these simply sliced and covered in farmhouse butter, but they are nice with jam and cream for a cream tea.
As ever, leave me any comments you’d like to make, ask any questions about this bake (or any other recipe) or just say hi, especially if you try baking these scones.
Ink Sugar Spice - Lynn Clark 