My latest trip to Trader Joe’s yielded these incredible blueberries – huge and OH! so sweet – but Rich has been feeling a bit like that little girl from Willy Wonka; one more morning bowl of blueberries with yogurt and he was going to turn blue and float away without an Oompa-Loompa in sight!
What to do?
Hmmmm; I had this recipe from Tyler Florence in my ‘stuff to try’ folder that seemed to offer the perfect solution: a blueberry delivery option that didn’t involve yogurt or a spoon to mix up week day breakfasts a bit.
Success? Well, close. These are truly fine scones, but Rich thought the glaze a tad on the tart side. I liked the orange snap, and think it’s nothing a small dab o’ good butter couldn’t handle, but we’re going to try dusting the next batch with coarse sugar crystals – for sweetness AND for pretty’s sake.
INGREDIENTS
Scones:
•2 cups flour, plus more for rolling berries
•1 tbsp baking powder
•1 tsp salt
•1/3 cup sugar
•1/4 cup butter, chilled and cut in chunks
•3/4 cup buttermilk
•1 egg
•1 pint fresh blueberries
Hint: toss the berries in the freezer for an hour or two – you’ll be able to stir them into the batter without crushing ‘em.
Glaze:
•2 tbsp butter
•2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
•2 oranges, juiced and zested
Heat oven to 400º.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to mix. Scatter the butter on top and pulse to cut in; the mixture should look like coarse meal.
Stir buttermilk and egg together in a large bowl, then add the flour mixture – just to incorporate, do not overstir the dough.
Remove the blueberries from the freezer and toss with some flour to coat – the recipe says that this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked – fold into the batter.
Drop by large tablespoons onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. I think that next time I make these, I’ll roll the dough out a bit and cut the scones into wedges instead. I got fifteen scones using the tablespoon drop method.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until brown (15 minutes more than did it for me) and cool on a rack.
Combine the butter, sugar, orange zest, and juice in the top of a double boiler and cook until butter and sugar are melted and mixture has thickened. I don’t have a double boiler, so faked it with a Pyrex bowl over simmering water – the glaze never really thickened (for me, at least) until I popped it in the ‘wave and zapped it for about five minutes, stirring every minute and a half or so.
Remove from heat (or the ‘wave) and beat until smooth and slightly cooled. Drizzle or brush on top of scones and let the glaze set. Here’s were we’re thinking of adding the coarse sugar – after drizzling but before setting.
Tasty. Even without the coarse sugar.