The Science of the scone

Before I went to work, I decided to make scones with left over sour cream I had on hand. I settled on cranberry orange scones since I also had some cranberries in the freezer from Thanksgiving. I let the cranberries thaw overnight which was mistake #1: they were very moist and some were soggy (I should also mention, the majority of the recipes that I saw called for dried fruit, but I was sure fresh fruit would add better flavor). The cranberries were also super tart and somewhat large. I couldn't see how biting into one of these things in my scones would be a pleasant experience. I considered throwing the cranberries in the food processor and then allowing them to drain for a bit, but frankly, I didn't have that kind of time since I need to be at work around 9ish. At the last minute, I decided to switch from cranberries to blueberries since they were smaller and sweeter. The blueberries were also frozen, so I took them out of the freezer, ran them under cold water and let them drain until I was ready to throw them into the mix....but apparently I did not drain them enough (mistake #2). As soon as I added them, my mixture went from the right consistency to a wet doughy mess. I added a little more flour which helped a bit but there was no way I could get the dough rolled out to cut into triangles...hence the mini-blob loaves you see above.

My results were tasty: a nice tang from the orange zest and sour cream balanced with the sweetness from the blueberries and cinnamon sugar. I doubt my creation qualified as a scone...they were too moist. They were like some sort of mini sour cream breakfast bread. So, apparently the science of the perfect scone has to do with keeping the dough on the dry side...more experimentation at a later date!

Sour Cream Blueberry Orange Breakfast Sweet Bread (poorly adapted from a Sour Cream Cranberry Orange Scone recipe on Big Oven)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries (they recommended coating the fruit in a mixture of flour and sugar...a step I sadly skipped)

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 cups flour

6 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoon cold butter

1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)

1 egg

Topping

Little bit of milk to brush on top

Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat oven to 400

Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut butter into the flour mixture until crumbly (I used my fingertips a bit to sort of work the butter in).

Stir in the orange zest and blueberries (again, this is where things fell apart for me...I would try dried blueberries next time).

Turn out on to floured board. Form into 6 round mini-loaves or, if dry enough, roll out and cut into triangles.

Brush a little milk on each scone and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 16-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.