Scone Heaven

Wednesday afternoon I had a friend over for tea. Laurel brought her three older boys over for me to keep. She was planning on getting groceries and doing other errands. But as soon as she walked in the door and smelled the scones baking, she sat down for tea and didn't leave; which was fine by me. All three of us had a good visit while the children played outside.

All except for Thing 4 who helped his mommy lick the bowl. These scones are the best I've had anywhere including England and Scotland. High praise indeed! Here's the recipe in case you want to eat the best scone ever.

CURRANT SCONES

Makes 8 scones

Preheat over to 375

Combine in a large bowl: 2 3/4 all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 t. baking powder, and 1/2 t. salt. Blend in 12 T. unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes. I use salted butter. Blend in with your fingers, smashing cubes into flour until it resembles coarse corn meal.

Add 1 cup dried currants. You can also add 1 T. orange or lemon zest. I never have since I'm too lazy to go to all that trouble. I bet it'd be good, though.

Add 1 cup cold, heavy cream. I only had 1/2 a cup, so I added it plus 1/2 cup milk. Whipping cream can be used too. Blend with your hands just until blended.

Knead and pat dough into a circle about 1/2 an inch thick, cut into wedges, and transfer to a baking sheet, spacing 2" apart.

Blend one egg with 1 T. water. Brush with egg and water mixture, then sprinkle with sugar. Don't neglect this part. It makes the scones shiny and crunchy on the outside. Bake 25-30 mins. or until golden brown.

Serve with real, homemade whipped cream. No Redi-Whip please. And forget about Kool-Whip. That would be a sacrilege. Add a little red currant jam on top too. You'll think you'd died and gone to heaven. Really. They're that good. We sure were doing some moaning and groaning!

Note: To make whipped cream. Buy a 8 oz. carton of whipping cream, pour into a mixer with 1-3 T. of sugar, depending on the sweetness you desire, and whip until stiff. This can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. It's yummy in hot tea or coffee too.