“Marianne Hanley, she baked scones.”
Two things come to mind as I write this post: first I remember Brook Miller once quipping, that on his tombstone his epitaph would read, “Brook Miller, he mowed his lawn”. For some reason, I never forgot this – I just loved his statement about the sensibility of life. I guess I’d have to say for mine, “Marianne Hanley, she baked scones.”
I am not really sure what happened to me this morning. I awoke at 5:15 and was up and at-em. I posted my first blog by 6:46 and now I have the ovens going and I have gotten into some naughty doings for this hour: 7:26. Let’s just say that mornings are my most productive time and then it’s downhill from there…….
I got to thinking about finishing off the scones I started to mix the other morning and which were too late for the recipient. I wanted to make Cherry Scones, but which had the “volume turned up” as Ina would say.
I have an issue with dried cherries – they don’t bring forth the flavor that I look for – especially if they’ve been in the refrigerator. So, this morning I mused about what to reconstitute them with. I decided to be especially mischievious and warmed them gently with a little dark rum – oooooo and ut-oh!
These came out especially lovely, lofty and fragrant!
DRIED CHERRY AND RUM SCONES with nutmeg and citrus
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup muscavado sugar
zest strips of one lemon
grated zest of 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3-1/2 cup buttermilk
6 tblsp unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes
3/4 cups dried cherries reconstituted in 1/4 cup dark rum and a little water, drained reserving liquid
Preheat oven to 425F. In bowl of food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and zests. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times or until the butter is in small fragments and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Dump into a low wide bowl and make a well. Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk and pour into the center. Gently mix together with a dough scraper. Add the cherries and a bit of the rum – enough to bring the batter together. Using a large spoon to make 8 scones, drop onto a baking sheet covered with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with muscavado sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely browned and crusty on top.
Movie Trivia: “Must be the Rum.”
Wishing you a lovely day – even if most of the flowers are now gone……….