Currant Scones

Adapted by Dan Macey from a cream scones recipe by Fannie Farmer in the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.

Scones are considered a Scottish invention first made with oats, shaped into a large round and scored into wedges, and griddle-baked over an open fire. Today, we have Anna Russell, the 7^th Duchess of Bedford and Queen Victoria’s "Lady of the Bedchamber," to thank for adding scones to her afternoon snack served with tea.

Photo by Paul Savidge, Food styling by Dan Macey

Download or print the recipe PDF

Ingredients

2 ½ cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons butter, cold
½ cup currants or raisins
2 eggs separated
2/3 cups cream
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
• Cut up the butter into small pieces and rub in the butter with your fingertips.
• Mix together 1 egg and 1 yolk (reserving the other egg white for brushing on at the end) and the cream in a mixing cup.
• Add the currants and then the egg/cream mixture.
• Stir until it forms a dough. Then form the dough into a disk—about 1½” thick—on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Brush the top with the remaining egg white and sprinkle with the sugar.
• Cut the disk into 8 even wedges, then slightly separate them.
• Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.