Sour Cherry Scones
True to my name, today I’m sharing my tested-and-true recipe for incredible sour cherry scones! ❤️
THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD.
I’ve been thinking about these scones since reading Carry On, specifically the line: “I just can't pass up the scones if they're there. They're soft and light and a little bit salty. Sometimes I dream about them.”
Me too, Simon, me too.
I use my own small-batch scone dough base recipe, which was originally adapted from the blog dessertfortwo. I also drew some inspiration from the recipe from fiction food cafe. I haven’t made @cookingmywaythroughcarryon‘s recipe but I’m hoping to try it soon!
These are quite different from all of those, and I’ve tested them about 4 times now (and not just because I want to eat them again... and again.) Fiction Food mentioned they might be round in canon, and while I prefer triangle scones, I cut these round with a mason jar lid and they turned out really nice—very English-teatime looking.
Tips:
butter: I actually don’t like to use frozen butter. It tends to result in a crumblier texture than I would like. These scones are flaky on the outside and dense inside. I don’t use a pastry cutter or food processor—I cut cold butter into cubes, then rub/smush it into the flour with my hands. I’ve found that results in the best texture.
cherries: I did a lot of research on sour cherries (this post from The Kitchn) and used dried Montmorency cherries from Trader Joe’s. A friend recommended soaking them in liquid (water, OJ, rum) to plump them, which I haven’t tried but might do next! The dried cherries worked great for the texture. Although fresh would be ideal, obviously, I would be careful with the amount of liquid they add during cooking, which can lead to a soggy scone.
baking powder: My first two batches fell flat because my baking powder was expired! You can easily check this by adding some to hot water and seeing if it fizzes.
salt: The amount of salt in this depends on what kind of salt you have on hand. I used pink Himalayan and ½ tsp was the perfect amount so you could taste it and have that salty/sweet combo. If you’re using kosher salt, ½ tsp should also be fine. If you have sea salt I’d reduce to about ¼ tsp. You can use table salt in a pinch (I prefer not to bake with it) and I’m guessing that would be ¼ tsp as well.
egg: I think dessertfortwo uses just an egg yolk in order to maintain proper liquid proportions for the small batch recipe. However, I found that using just an egg yolk also reduces fluffiness, which is ideal—we want a scone, not a muffin. An unexpected perk is that it contributes to that beautiful golden colour!
Notes:
The photos in this post are mostly from the best-tasting batch I made with the recipe posted here. However, they spread out a little in the oven because my baking powder was expired. The paler scones were made with an experimental recipe which turned out far worse, but I used non-expired baking powder (lol) so I’m putting them here for a height reference.
Recipe is below, and scroll/click “keep reading” below that for a step by step with photos!
SOUR CHERRY SCONES
Makes: 6 scones
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ to ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons salted butter, cold
⅓ cup cold heavy cream, plus extra for brushing
1 egg yolk
¼ cup dried sour/tart cherries
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Cut the butter into squares and add it to the flour mixture. Work the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, forks or knives, or your hands. It should be evenly distributed in pieces the size of peas.
Add the sour cherries and mix. (You can also do this after adding the wet ingredients for a better sense of how many cherries you want.)
Whisk together the egg yolk and heavy cream in a separate bowl. Pour it into the dry ingredients and incorporate using a spatula.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape it into a circle about an inch thick. Using a cookie cutter or anything round (I used the top of a mason jar), cut the scone into circle shapes.
Place the scones on a baking sheet (optional lined with parchment paper). Brush the top of each piece with heavy cream.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the scones are golden brown on the edges and a toothpick comes out clean.
Enjoy with butter or cream, tea, and a book :) (Preferably Carry On)