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Has there ever been two things that go hand in hand better than scones and power tools? We’ll get to that later. Truth be known, my other option for the title of this blog was “Oi with the scones already!” I realize this is my third scone post and I have made more scones in the last 4 weeks than I have in the last 4 years, but I had many good reasons for adding one more scone to the blog before moving on for a while:

  1. I have only a few days left to bake/cook in my mother-in-law, Linda’s, amazing kitchen!
  2. I was given a scone pan for Christmas.
  3. Linda has the most beautiful kitchen!
  4. I was given bottles of pure lemon, lime, and orange oils for Christmas AND we had cream on hand. Lemon-Cream scones seemed the best choice to use both a new, fun ingredient AND use something that would otherwise go bad.
  5. I was given a new camera lens for Christmas…time for a food blog! (This is, perhaps, the appropriate time to warn you that this will be a photo-heavy blog!)
  6. Linda’s kitchen is beautiful.
  7. I brought Rose Petal Jam along and we have not, thus far, broken it out. What better to serve it with than scones?
  8. Linda’s kitchen is…well….I’ll just show you:

 

Directly behind me when snapping the second photo is a beautiful farmhouse sink with this view: You can see why it’s fun to cook here! My last reason for making scones today is that I tried this recipe out a couple of months ago and wasn’t totally enamored with it. I loved the texture both inside and out but, call me crazy, when a recipe is called ‘Lemon-Cream Scones’ I like to be able to taste some lemon in them. It was disappointingly lacking the first time around. With pure lemon oil magically available to me I thought I would try these again replacing the vanilla with Lemon Oil. This recipe is barely modified from Martha Stewart’s Lemon Cream Scones. In addition to the Lemon Oil, I used my food processor instead of the mixer and I also changed the baking time which was FAR too long in the original recipe! I have found the perfect baking time for these. But to be fair I live at high altitude so you may have to play with the baking time for yourself if you live at sea level.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons pure lemon oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix at low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand.  I used my food processor and they turned out beautifully. Just pulse the mixture until it looks like wet sand.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup cream, 2 eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture, and beat on low speed until just incorporated. If using food processor pulse until the mixture just comes together. It will be very crumbly when turned out onto a floured surface. If you over-mix, your scones will be tough instead of light and fluffy inside.
  3. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, and form into a flat disc, about 8 inches across and 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into 8 wedges and transfer to prepared baking sheet or place wedges in scone pan.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining egg and 3 tablespoons cream to make an egg wash. Brush scones with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the tops are golden brown and firm, 40 to 50 minutes. I found this FAR too long!! They were perfect both inside and out in 23 minutes at high altitude.
Meanwhile, just look at the mess I made in Linda’s pretty, pretty kitchen! But the results were worth it:
Trinity is a fan!
You’re still wondering about the power tools, aren’t you? Well, this morning an old family friend, John Denler, came over to help Jed install a wall in the basement they are finishing. Andy joined in helping too. As I prepared to bring some down to the boys it occurred to me that mixing power tools with scones and rose petal jam seemed slightly obsurd.  (You can say it. I know you want to. ‘Oi with the Rose Petal Jam already!’ But it’s good stuff! For the recipe see: https://sarahsjoys.com/2011/10/30/rose-petal-jam/ ,) I mean, doesn’t it just sound like the perfect manly mid-morning snack? So I headed downstairs:Move over Peanut Butter and Jelly…Scones and Power Tools are the next inseparable craze to sweep the nation. Here are the boys with their ‘Power Tools Fear Me” looks and their plates of scones. Construction sites across the nation will soon be providing them en masse to their hungry, burly, workers.
Best of friends.