SWEETHEART SCONES
2 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder Pinch of salt 6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, frozen 1 teaspoon grated or finely minced orange zest 3/4 cup currants 1 egg, lightly beaten 3/4 cup half-and-half Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside a nonstick or parchment-lined baking sheet. In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until well blended. Using the large holes of a grater, grate frozen butter into flour mixture. With a pastry cutter or two knives, work pieces into the flour 30 seconds to 1 minute, to resemble coarse crumbs (butter should still be cool). Add the zest and currants. Combine egg and half-and-half, and quickly stir into flour mixture. Do not overmix. Dust hands with flour and loosely gather dough into a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 2 or 3 times. Lightly pat or roll dough 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick. Dip a 2 1/2-inch heart or muffin cutter into flour, and cut out scones. Place on the baking sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm. Chocolate-filled scones: Follow Sweetheart Scones recipe, but omit currants and zest. Roll the dough 1-inch thick. Cut out 6 scones with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Immediately make a horizontal slit into each scone, leaving a hinge of crust to hold the two halves together. Insert a portion of bittersweet chocolate bar, which is cut slightly smaller than its opening, allowing a bit of chocolate to show. Wait 1 minute for the chocolate to slightly warm - chocolate will retain its shape until the first bite. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
