Baking Friday - Bread # 4

I actually served this last Thursday since I was in Chicago this week.

These are our first Mother's Day entry.  A very simple, classic scone, meant to remind a special friend from work, K, of her days spent walking the markets in the UK.  I don't think I quite matched the flavor and texture that she remembered, but I know she enjoyed them and hope she felt the love.

These are another King Arthur Flour recipe, but I don't know that I will do these again.  These scones don't have any egg in them, which is fine and rather classic in nature, but I think I like the texture of a scone made with egg just a tad better.  Here is the link to this tea cream scone recipe, if you would like to try it yourself sometime; but for a "plain" classic scone that I think I will like better, I plan to try this  recipe next time and leave out any of the optional extras.  All just a matter of personal preference, but I am simply passing along my thoughts.

But that reminds me of a couple of other comments.  From guys.  One said that they wanted gravy... that this reminded them of a thick biscuit.  Another man said that he would rather have a biscuit than a scone.

And that got me to thinking about something.  I don't mean to sound sexist here, but if you look at the list of ingredients for most biscuits or scones, they are both very similar, including technique.  Flour.  Sugar.  Salt.  Baking Powder.  Cut in some butter or shortening.  Add your liquid ingredients to form a dough and then shape and bake.

Call it a biscuit, and it conjures up images of farms and gravy and sausage and bacon and ham.

Guy things.

Call it a scone, and it conjures up images of tea and fruit jams and clotted cream and lace and gossip.

Lady things.

Right?  So for the Father's Day bread, I may serve a biscuit.  Or biscuits and gravy.

But this isn't Father's Day.  This is Mother's Day, so it's scones!  With lemon curd and raspberry jam.

Let's start with our lemon curd.  This is one of those EASY recipes that people are scared of, so they buy it from a jar.  No reason to buy it.  If you have eggs, butter, sugar and lemons on hand, you are half way to some tasty lemon curd.  And this stuff can be used LOTS of ways - on cakes, in pies and tarts, lightened with whipped cream and served in cream puffs.  Any place that you enjoy a touch of lemon, lemon curd will very likely fit the bill.

And it may...like it did for one friend...it may just remind you of your mother and things she made when you were growing up.  If so, and if she is still around, this would be a great thing to make her to say, "Thank you for all the sweet things you did and made for us, and I love you."  If so, and if she is not still around, this would be a great thing to make and remember her with love and thanks.

Oh, and let me make sure I give Helen Fletcher her due.  This is her recipe, except I use a bit less lemon juice than she does, because I like a bit milder lemon taste.  If you like a sharper lemon taste more like Helen does, then feel free to use up to 1/2 cup of lemon juice.

It all starts with 4 whole eggs in a heavy non-aluminum sauce pan.

Whisk them until well combined and then assemble your lemon juice (I use 1/4 - 1/3 cup, but Helen likes 1/2 cup), 1/2 cup of butter, cut in 8 pieces, and 1 cup of sugar.

And that's all there is to it.  I add a dash of salt at the beginning and a splash of vanilla at the end, just because, but you don't have to by any means.  Put them all in the pan and cook over medium high heat, whisking constantly, until thick, about a minute after it starts to boil.

Now I like to explore flavors like lavender and thought maybe I would try infusing some of this flavor into about 1/2 of the curd mixture.  I didn't want bits of dried lavender in the curd so I thought maybe if I put some in a tea ball it would work.

So once it is cooked, I transferred it to two glass bowls to cool with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd, adding the tea ball of lavender to one of the bowls.

But it didn't work, so don't try this at home.  I still want to explore this flavor combination, but I will need to introduce the lavender a different way next time - maybe heat the lemon juice a tad and let the tea ball steep in it for a little while before cooking with the eggs, sugar and butter.  I will have to think on that and get back with you.

Oh, and don't let me forget.  I also poked a few holes in the plastic wrap before setting it in the fridge overnight.

Here are the pics for the scones.  I followed the KAF recipe fully.  Here is the cream added to the dry ingredients.

I mixed and poured it out onto the floured surface.

Shaped into two disks...

...brushed them with cream and sprinkled with sparkling sugar...

The recipe said to cut into sixths, but I cut into eighths and then baked as directed.

They baked up nice and golden.

Once baked I wrapped them in this carrot decorated tea towel...just because it seems springy and cheery to me.

The only other touch that we needed was to serve these with some raspberry jam to remind K a bit more of the UK.  All I did here was to combine about 1/2 cup of some raspberry preserves with the same amount of a raspberry fruit spread and then added a few fresh raspberries for some texture.  It gave us just a bit different mixture, hopefully combining the best features of each of its elements.

Simple.  Classic.  Ready for a pot of tea and a little time with your mother.  Or maybe treating her to a breakfast tray in bed with flowers and a card.

Yep, mothers need celebrating whenever we can.  For as long as we can.  And scones might just fit the bill for you this year as a way to celebrate her.

Thank you for stopping by.  Let me wish you one more Happy Easter!  May you celebrate it with lots of love and family and friends and praise.  He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!

Love,
DD