Lemon Blueberry Scones
I blame my current baking binge on my addiction to The Great British Baking Show. Although it was a BBC/PBS production, I have been watching it on Netflix. I’ve seen nearly every episode now. For someone who likes to cook or bake, it is truly binge-worthy. What I like most about the show is that it uses amateur bakers from across the UK. Not a bunch of reality TV personalities with a “glam squad” who does their makeup, hair and wardrobe. These are lovely, real people who bake as a hobby. Additionally, I really enjoy learning about the origin of food. The producers of the show do a wonderful job giving historical information about the recipes. Where did they originate? How long ago? How were they served? All things that this foodie, who also enjoys history appreciates.
Since the show is set in England and the Brits seem to love a good scone, I thought I’d take a crack at it. Did you get the British saying just then? While today’s recipe for Lemon Blueberry Scones came from a Pinterest search and not from the show, it still ended up being a WINNER. No Pinterest FAIL this time. I’d like to think that the judges from The Great British Baking Show would be pleased to see that my bake had a lovely open and airy texture and most of all no soggy bottom!
Click here for the online recipe I used.
I’ve included a few photos of how the dough should look during the process. See below and happy baking.
The secret to a flaky pastry is to freeze the butter and then grate it or dice into tiny pieces before adding to the flour mixture. Doing this lets the butter melt slowly as the scones bake. When this happens it forms tiny air pockets which produce an open texture that you want.
Adding frozen grated butter eliminates the need for cutting softer butter into the dough until you’ve got a mixture that looks like this. This is before you add the cream, eggs and vanilla.
Just like you do when making biscuits, handle the dough very carefully. Do not over mix the dough. Gently pat into 8 inch round circle before cutting. Those tiny bits of white you see are not clumps of flour. They are the shredded, frozen butter bits.
The glaze requires just TWO ingredients…powdered sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. As Ina Garten would say, “How easy is that”?
