Live from Voorheesville: Buttermilk Scones with Currants

These scones remind me of when I was a little girl and we would visit my grandparents in San Francisco. They lived in a beautiful house in Cole Valley and we would get these wonderful scones from the bakery just down the street and eat them back at the house in their kitchen, or on my grandparents bed if it was a breakfast in bed morning, with jam and butter. They were amazing.

Here I am one of those mornings enjoying one...

Or maybe that is a croissant but, hey, those are awesome too (and something I plan to tackle soon!)

This recipe for buttermilk scones with currants is from the Tartine cookbook:

Tartine is a fabulous bakery in San Francisco, on the corner of 18th Street and Valencia, near Valencia park. They have one of the best almond croissants I have ever tasted and the recipe is in this cookbook... It is on my agenda to make it before the Spring... I will need to invite a lot of willing participants for a brunch!

These scones are handsdown amazing. Sooo buttery and flaky. We enjoyed some fresh out of the oven, with some jam this morning.

It was over too quickly and there are 10 of them left in our kitchen, calling out to be eaten! Anyone want to come over and help us out?

here's how to make these buttery babies.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Zante currants (also called "black currants" or "dried currants")

4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 cup + 1 T butter

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp. lemon zest

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a baking sheet.

Combine currants with warm water to cover in a small bowl and set aside for about 10 minutes until they are plumped. Drain well.

While currants are plumping, sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.

Add sugar and salt and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and scatter over dry ingredients. If using a mixer, fit with a paddle attachment and pulse on and off so you don't break down butter too much. I started this way (as you can see below) but decided immediately to cut in the butter by had instead. I do not have a pastry blender (if you do, use that) so I used two table knives to cut the butter in.

Like so (but using two hands of course.. one of mine is holding a camera..)

Cut up (or pulse mixer) until you have a coarse mixture and butter is in pea-sized lumps.

Note on buttermilk: I made buttermilk because I didn't have any on hand. To do this, just measure out your milk, here 1 1/2 cups, and then add 1 T lemon juice per cup of milk (so 1 1/2 T for 1 1/2 cups of milk. Let sit 5 minutes before using.

Add the buttermilk, currants and zest all at once and combine with a wooden spoon (or mix on low speed with mixer), just until you have a dough that holds together. If mixture is dry, add a bit more buttermilk. Don't overmix the dough! The butter should still be in pieces.

Dust work surface with flour and turn dough out. Using your hands, pat the dough into a rectangle about 18 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 1 1/2 inches thick.