Since I still had heavy cream and buttermilk in the fridge, I tried another traditional Irish scone recipe over the weekend. (This one is a combination of 3 recipes I found online.)
This recipe contains an egg, and I used a combination of cake flour and all purpose flour (trying for the soft texture, didn’t have enough cake flour for the entire recipe – oops!).
Traditional Irish Scones
- 2 1/2 cups flour (I used equal parts cake flour and all purpose flour)
- 10 tablespoons cold butter (1 1/4 sticks)
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, cut in butter with a pastry blender. Add the remaining ingredients and combine until dough forms. On a floured surface, knead dough a few times, adding flour if dough is still wet. Pat out into rectangle that is 1/2 inch tall. Cut with biscuit cutter, place on parchment lined baking sheet. Brush tops of unbaked scones with heavy cream. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. (Mine took 18 minutes. FYI: I used a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter for this recipe.)
The family reviews were great. The taste and texture were almost identical to the ones Offspring3 and I had at The International Hotel in Killarney. They are beautiful, but they still look more like a Southern buttermilk biscuit than a scone. I finally went and watched a few YouTube videos to see what I am missing. I have been working my dough more than I should for scones. (too much pressing and folding!)
the brushing of cream made the tops nice and shiny
I think I will make this recipe once more while I still have heavy cream and buttermilk on hand, but I will use all cake flour (not a mix of cake and all purpose), add maybe 1 teaspoon more of sugar, not work the dough much at all after I have dumped it from the bowl, and use an egg wash to brush the tops before baking. I promise to post the results.
Paper and Ink Imaginings 