I’m spending the last of the summer near Sleeping Bear. I made these scones with the wild blackberries that grow near the edge of the woods that surround the house. Fortunately, the bushes have grown rather high and there are plenty of beautifully ripe berries on the upper canes, because each morning, a rafter of wild turkeys walk the perimeter of the yard and eat all the berries they can reach.

I decided to use these blackberries as a reason to test out a new recipe, “Blueberry Scones,” from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook: 2001-2015, (published in 2014), pg. 634-36. It makes use of a method for incorporating butter and flour that seemed, when I first read it, overly fussy. However, it turned out to be less work than cutting by hand, and produced a better result than a food processor. This recipe produces modestly sweet scones, perfect for a bit of butter. Resist slathering them with jam, though, because you want to taste the berries. Their tender texture is 99% biscuit with a 1% cookie undercurrent. They’re definitely not dry, but they’re not doughy or heavy, either. They’re certainly good freshly baked, but I think they’re best when completely and fully cooled to room temperature. If they don’t make you want a cup of Joe, nothing ever will.

What you need to make 8:

2 sticks unsalted butter (16 Tbs, or 8 oz.), frozen whole
7½ oz. fresh berries (about 1½ cups), picked over and frozen
4 oz. whole milk (½ cup)
4¼ oz. sour cream (½ cup)
10 oz. unbleached AP flour (2 cups), plus more for the work surface
3½ oz. sugar (½ cup), plus 1 Tbs for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp table salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp grated lemon zest

How to do it:

1. Slice through the butter wrappers with a knife, so that you can remove the paper from half of each stick. Coarsely grate the butter, stopping when you get to the paper. You’ll wind up with 8 Tbs of grated butter, which you should place back into the freezer. Of the remaining butter, melt 2 Tbs and set the rest aside for another use.
2. Preheat to 425˚F.
3. Whisk milk and sour cream; refrigerate until needed.
4. Whisk flour, ½-cup sugar, baking powder, salt, soda, and zest. Add butter, and toss with a spatula until the butter is fully coated. Add milk mixture; fold just until combined. Turn onto a heavily floured surface, and knead and fold, using one bare hand and a bench scraper in the other, just until the mixture forms a rough dough. Apply gentle pressure as you work, so that the dough comes together quickly.
5. Roll the dough to a 12-inch square. Use your bench scraper to free the dough from the countertop, and fold it in three, as you would a business letter. Then, take the short ends and fold them toward the center in a similar manner. You’ll end up with a roughly 4-inch square. Turn that onto a floured plate and put it in the freezer for five minutes.

6. Turn the dough back onto the countertop, and roll it out into another 12-inch square. Sprinkle the berries over it, and press each of them down into the dough. Roll the dough into a tight cylinder, using your bench scraper to loosen the dough from the countertop as you go. Flatten the cylinder to create a 4 x 12-inch rectangle. Use the bench scraper to cut the rectangle into four equal squares, then cut each square into two triangles. Transfer the triangles to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Brush with butter and sprinkle with the 1 Tbs of remaining sugar.
8. Bake 18-25 minutes, until browned. The edges will be crisply browned, and the tops very lightly browned.
9. Cool on a wire rack at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

Before you get your hands into the dough, make sure you have everything you need to complete the recipe: a ruler would be handy – not that you have to get all anal about measuring, but it’s nice to have it on the counter for reference when you’re rolling dough to 12-inches. Make sure you have a small plate on which to rest the dough, the baking tray, the parchment, a pastry brush, etc. Once your hands are full of dough, you don’t want to have to be fishing around in your cupboards.

The Verdict

This is a very good recipe. It produces as good a scone as any I’ve ever made. I’m not sure I can say I haven’t had a better scone, though. (4.5 / 5)

Wild Blackberry Scones

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