Blueberry Cream Scones and Lemon Curd

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Blueberry Scones and Lemon Curd, photos by TK Photography

I was walking to work the other day, and I stopped in a coffee shop on my way and got a latte and one of the blueberry scones they had wrapped up on their counter.  They looked homemade, and cuss it, I love a good scone.  I walked and ate and drank and this thing was....well, it was sad.  It was dry and tasteless and pale.  I ate the whole thing, of course, because I'm me and I do that, but I didn't want to!

My mission was clear.  My itch had not been scratched.  So I took to my (friends, with the convection oven and cable in their) kitchen to get my scone fix.   Of course, a scone without anything on it is almost like a crime against God and nature, so I decided that a good, buttery lemon curd would do the trick.  I love citrus, and there are few things that cut the acidity of the lemon better than the sweetness of a blueberry.  Because this is something you generally eat for breakfast as opposed to a dessert, I decided on a curd recipe with slightly more butter than our average curd.

I hope you love it!

Blueberry Cream Scones

• AP Flour: 2 C
• Granulated Sugar: 1/3 C
• Baking Powder: 1 T
• Table Salt: 1/2 t
• Heavy Cream: 1 1/2 C, plus a little more for brushing the tops of your scones
• Frozen Wild Blueberries:
• Tools: Medium bowl, sifter, preheat oven to 400 

Sift together your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in your medium bowl.  Very, very gently, toss your blueberries into your flour mixture.  If you are too rough, they will burst, your scones will turn weird blue and you'll be sad all day.

Make a well in your dry ingredients, and pour in 1 1/4 C of your cream.  Mix VERY gently until a rough looking dough has formed.  If it still seems too dry, add cream a tablespoon at a time.  I ended up using almost an extra quarter cup.  Divide into eight different pieces and place onto your lined baking sheet, giving each scone about 2" on each side to grow.  They will be difficult to portion out perfectly because the dough is very sticky.  Wet your hands and gently form each scone into an evenly shaped ball.   This will make it easier because the water will keep the dough from sticking to you.  Brush each scone generously with cream.  I also sprinkled each scone with a little Turbinado Sugar (Sugar in the Raw) to give them a little extra crunch and a little, well, zazz.

Put them in your 400 degree oven and bake until GBD (golden brown and delicious...see, Rachel Ray, I can do it, too!), about 15 minutes.  I've said it before, and I'll say it, again: each oven is different. When these are done you should be able to pick them up off of the baking sheet without them crumbling at all, but they should still be tender to the touch.   You'll probably want to take them out while the "cracks" in the top are still a little pale.  Let them get a little more color than you probably would prefer to.  They'll taste better that way, trust me. Keep an eye on them and use your best judgement.  

TK Photography

Lemon Curd 

• Eggs,Whole: 3
• Lemon Zest: One Lemon
• Lemon Juice: 1/2 C 
• Fresh is always best, and that's about 3 lemons
• Sugar, Granulated: 1/2 C
• Butter, Unsalted: 6 T 
• Cut into 1 T pieces

Put your butter in a medium bowl and keep your strainer nearby.  Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, whisk the eggs thoroughly.  Add your lemon zest, juice and sugar and whisk until completely combined.  Cook on medium heat, constantly whisking (don't forget the edges and corners, y'all), until your curd is thickened and bubbling along the edges. Don't get crazy waiting for this to boil.  Two or three bubbles is really all you need.  The longer it cooks, the more egg-y stuff will end up in your strainer.  Wait to see just a couple lava bubbles along the edge and remove from heat.

Immediately pour your curd through the strainer onto your butter mixture, stirring a little to get the bound of curd through.  Scrape the underside of our strainer as well, because some of your curd will be clinging for dear life to it, but it still needs to get eaten.  Let this sit for about a minute, and then whisk until your butter is completely combined into your curd.  Refrigerate for up to a week.

TK Photography

Now Try This!
You can leave out the blueberries if you just want some good old fashioned scone action.  Also, try some clotted cream with your lemon curd.  It's decadent and delicious!  Don't be afraid to substitute ingredients for the blueberries.  Crystallized ginger (1/4-1/2 C depending on how into ginger you are) makes an excellent mix-in, and is especially good when you sift in about 1/2t of powdered ginger with our flour.  You could also substitute key lime juice (regular lime juice will be really tart) or meyer lemon juice in the curd if you wanted to make things interesting.

TK Photography

Recipes adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Centu (Google Affiliate Ad) and Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts by Alice Medrich.

Photographs by the incredibly talented TK Photography.