I’ve been on a serious cherry bender for the past few weeks. Mounds of blushing Royal Ann, bright red sour, and purple Bing cherries seem to be around every corner in New York and I can’t resist buying a pint or two whenever I see them. They’re the perfect snack food because they take so much activity to consume that I eat less during my late night kitchen raid. I admit the image of me spitting cherry pits into a cup while watching Conan isn’t the most attractive tableau, but here we are.
Last Saturday morning was no exception during my morning trip to the Greenpoint Farmers’ Market. All of the sweet cherry varieties were $6-7 a pound, however the sour cherries were almost past their peak ripeness and going for just $3. I decided to grab a few handfuls and try an afternoon baking experiment: scones.
I had only made scones once before, way back in 8th grade for a project in my history class. We were studying Ellis Island and to help us understand the US immigrant experience of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, every student in my grade spent an afternoon in a historical reenactment of what it was like to go through the various check points. We dressed up in our finest old-timey costumes (see: mother’s clothes from the 80s) and received an index card explaining who we were. Most were immigrants, some were doctors, and some were inspectors. The lucky ones were quarantined for TB in a row of desks in the back of a classroom, while the rest of us shuffled through and improvised our reasons for coming to the States.
As an extra-credit component of the day, we could bring in a dish from our ancestral home to share with the class. Being the nerdy girl I was (who was also nicknamed “Wednesday” during those torturous three years), I naturally jumped at the chance to bring in something reflecting my Irish heritage. Scones seemed easy enough, however when I realized I was short a cup of flour in the midst of baking, I had to improvise by adding oats I found in the cupboard. Unfortunately, they weren’t the rolled oats that are always used in baked goods, they were steel cut Irish oats that typically require 30-40 minutes boiling on the stove if you don’t want them to crack a tooth. I brought the finished scones in anyway and as you can imagine, the light brown rocks sat uneaten in a ziploc bag on my desk for the entire day.
With fresh sour cherries in hand, I was determined not to let this scone baking experience go awry. I picked up a bar of dark chocolate and got to work.
Chocolate and Sour Cherry Scones
-3/4 cup sour cherries, pitted and quartered
-1/2 cup unsalted butter (see special instructions in step 1 and 3)
-2 cups flour
-1/3 cup granulated sugar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 cup milk
-1 egg, lightly beaten
-1/2 cup finely chopped dark chocolate (with a few chunks)
-2 tbs. of granulated sugar for sprinkling
1) One hour before you start baking, place the 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) in the freezer.
2) Pre-heat oven to 400°.
3) Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Take the butter out of the freezer and use a grater to carefully grate the butter into the bowl. Once complete, use your hands to mix it with the dry ingredients, breaking up any chunks of butter that may have stuck together. If you don’t have a grater, simply cut non-frozen butter into small chunks, add them to the dry ingredients, and cut them in using two knives.
4) Add the cherries and chocolate and mix briefly.
5) Add the milk and lightly beaten egg and then stir until fully incorporated. Do not overmix.
6) Turn out the dough onto a wide, floured work surface. Use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a 2″ thick circle.
7) Cut into 8 wedges (pizza-style) using a floured knife and place the wedges onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Make sure they have a little room to expand.
8 ) Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on the sheet for 1 minute, then move to a wire rack. (They taste best while they’re still warm and the chocolate is still gooey.)
Why do you freeze the butter and then grate it? PS, love the new design/tone.
Thanks! It is a strange direction and I should have given a little more background. The butter needs to be evenly distributed in small pieces throughout the dough to achieve a light texture, so rather than cutting the butter in with two knives or using a food processor for the dry ingredients, the freezing and grating achieves the same effect with the least amount of elbow grease/dishes.