Citrus Blackberry Scones

It all began with a Facebook post. A friend from church posted a question, “Would anyone want blackberry plants? We are thinning out ours.”

To which I replied, “YES!” and three small shoots went into the ground behind our shed.

Three years later, I am picking blackberries by the quart daily and looking for recipes.

Blackberries are an interesting blend of sweet and tart, and when baked, turn into a beautiful jewel like color bursting with flavor.

Scones, on the other hand, how do I say it? Haven’t been my first choice in baked goods, because…they don’t burst with jewel like color and flavor. They present to me a challenge. I’m aware that a REAL scone is not the kind of scone you see at certain bakeries or specialty coffee shops (give me a cranberry orange or pumpkin scone from one of these places, but I know it isn’t a true representation…). It’s a great baked good, but the shame of scones. Call it a flat muffin maybe? I don’t know. Anyway, before proceeding, I called in my British life-liners.

I asked both of my friends about the art of scones, the flour and technique – they each sent me to the same BBC website for a recipe (www.bbcgoodfood.com). Which is awesome. Until I consider I am a Reading Teacher, and not a Math Teacher. Conversions from metric had me searching website calculators like nobody’s business.

The following recipe is a combination of my desire to be true to the scone, and yet fill it with citrus and fruit. Oh, and glaze. Because, that’s authentic… I tried. I really did. But a girl’s gotta have glaze.

The texture is dense but not too dense. the combination of cake flour and additional leavening makes them light but not cake-y. They are not too sweet, and the bang of the berries with the citrus is spot on.

When it comes to anything citrus, I am always disappointed if it is lacking. Don’t give me a lemon cake and the most lemony part is the yellow color. Blah.

So color me thrilled when my best friend and mandatory taste tester said this recipe was “lime forward.” Boom.

Here is one trick I saw on another blog, absolutely brilliant, (www.halfbakedharvest.com)and that is to grate the stick of butter like you would a block of cheese. This made cutting the butter into the flour mixture so much easier.

My other off trail change was the addition of an egg to the milk that goes into the batter. It did lighten the scone’s density and made it match the weight of the berries. As an aside, I used frozen blackberries for my recipe- simply because I am not using my berries fast enough and its easy to pick and pop into the freezer.

These scones are bright and flavorful, without being too sweet, and they are the perfect compliment to a cup of tea.

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

 

 

Printable Recipe:

Citrus Blackberry Scones Final

Citrus Blackberry Scones

Ingredients: 

3 Cups Cake Flour

½ Cup Sugar

3 Tablespoons Lemon/Lime Zest

1 Stick of Butter, grated and chilled

1 egg beaten plus enough milk to fill ¾ cup measure

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 Cups Blackberries (fresh or frozen)

sugar for dusting

 

Citrus Glaze:

 

¾ C confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp lime extract

2 tbsp. citrus juice

mix in hot water until desired thickness

 

Directions:

Combine cake flour, citrus zest, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar until combined.

Grate one stick of butter (8 Tablespoons) on large side of grater (refrigerate if necessary after grating – you want your butter cold)

Cut in butter into flour mix until butter is small enough to resemble sand

Beat one egg in a ¾ cup measuring cup, add additional milk to cup to fill.

Mix in egg mixture to dry ingredients. This will be a dry and tender texture. Fold in blackberries.

Turn mixture onto a flat surface and shape into a circle. Slice into eight wedges.

Place wedges onto parchment lined or Sllpat lined baking sheet.

Dust each scone with sugar.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

 

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle on top of scones when baked.