Blueberry Scones

Wow… this week got away from me! Here it is, Thursday, and all of my best laid baking schemes have gang aft a-gley(ed). Now that I have Robert Burns turning over in his grave for that terrible misquotation, let’s get down to business!! I’m planning a bunch of breads for the coming weeks, but I had a child-and-husband-free block of two hours at home and a pint of blueberries in the fridge. I also had a mini scone pan that my mom sent me for my birthday that had yet to be put to use. Ok, Universe! I hear you loud and clear! Blueberry scones, it is!

Quick internet search…boom: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/my-favorite-blueberry-scones/. Sally is becoming one of my favorites, so this was a no-brainer for me. It also helped that I had some heavy whipping cream in the fridge. Sometimes I buy things thinking I’ll get around to making a fresh whipped cream (sorry, peach upside-down cake!) and then they end up as scones. I guess there are worse things for heavy cream to become.

Of course, I was in a bit of a rush because I needed to make the most of my home alone time, I was expecting company, and the house looked like an infant explosion. I didn’t take as many “during” photos as I should have! I didn’t even take a mise en place photo!! What was I thinking?? Of course, I did post a video to my facebook page with the mise en place in the background, so if you miss it that much, you can find it there!

Meanwhile, here’s a satisfying photo of frozen, grated butter. I’ve never used this method to work butter into flour before, but I’m pretty sure I’ll always do it now! I did feel like I left a bit too much in the food processor, but next time, I’ll probably just use that the whole time. I’m not sure why I didn’t do that this go around except to say I was in a rush? I was just following the recipe? I lack the confidence to just do it my way? I would say maybe it was the confidence one, except…

…then, I went rogue.

After working the butter into the dry ingredients, you’re supposed to add the cream, egg, and vanilla. Once I did that, it seemed dry. Like…really dry. There was a bunch of flour that was just pooling at the bottom of the bowl. I didn’t want to overwork the dough. For some reason, I decided to add a bit more cream. Then a bit more. Then I added too much. Some of the blueberries started to pop as I tried getting everything combined, and it went from really dry to too wet in a matter of minutes. A bit mad at myself, I tore off chunks of the soggy dough and slopped in into the 16 sections of my mini-scone pan (also, not used in Sally’s recipe instructions) with no rhyme or reason or sense of uniformity. I will not describe the force with which I literally threw the pan into the oven and shut the door, only to say that it echoed my frustration with my stupid, rookie mistake. I know, I’m being a little hard on myself. I get this way with food. That’s why I need a blog to talk about it–there’s no such thing as a food psychologist.

Despite my poor treatment of my dough, the scones baked up golden and delicious. They may not have had quite that tender crumb that I love about a scone, but they were still pretty satisfying. The hint of cinnamon in them perfectly compliments the blueberries. I usually make a mock Devonshire cream to go with scones, but the vanilla icing lent just the right touch of sweetness, plus, it looked so pretty in the pictures! These may need another test run for…uh…research. Yeah… It’s all in the name of science. Science and tea.