Lemon Poppyseed Scones

 A few years ago I met two lovely ladies at a library event.  We found we had a shared interest in crafting.  We started getting together to do our art... sewing, painting, stained glass and cooking! After working together on whatever art we had decided on, we stopped and had a bite to eat. Because you can't have friends over and not feed them something. And who doesn't love a tea party, even if you serve coffee!

Radhika and Shirley bring food that they have made and I bake something and it's a lot of fun.  I think we do more chatting than art!  Radhika has served us some fabulous Indian meals.  Shirley brings treats that she has made. But at our last get together we decided to do a baking day, rather than another kind of craft.

Radhika had her granddaughter visiting so Anika was roped into baking with us. Actually she was there mostly to play with the new kitten, but she was a big help with making scones.

Lemon Poppyseed Scones

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (one stick) frozen

1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup cream or milk, you may need a bit more if it is too dry

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

lemon zest from one lemon. But buy and zest two as you'll need it for the frosting

1 Tablespoon poppyseeds

Preheat the oven to 400°. Place a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat on a baking sheet or two if you are making the whole recipe today, and set aside.

If you planned ahead you will have frozen a stick of butter. Grate the butter. If you didn't plan ahead, cut the butter into small pieces.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add the grated butter and cut in until all the butter is incorporated and there are no large lumps.  A pastry cutter works well for this.

Mix the cream, lemon and vanilla flavorings. Add it to the flour mixture with the lemon zest. Add in the lemon juice and sprinkle the poppyseeds evenly.  

Mix just until incorporated. if it is very dry you can add a few Tablespoons more of cream, but it should still be a bit dry. Over mixing will make the scones tough. 

Scrape everything onto a lightly floured counter and gently press into a ball. I like to divide the ball into two pieces to make smaller scones, but you can just make a single ball for the bigger scones,  They may need a minute or two longer in the oven. Press the dough into a flat circle about 6 inches round.  A tiny line of flour on the counter is great for flouring a bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 equal pieces 

Once they have been cut, you may freeze some for future use.

Gently lift the scones with the bench scraper to the prepared pan or pans. Leave a few inches between each scone as they will rise while baking.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.  They are done when they start to turn a golden brown.

Let cool for 2 minutes and remove to a cooling rack with wax paper under it to finish cooling. When mostly cool you can frost them.

I'm not a fan of a glaze.  I like a solid, flavored frosting. 

1 Tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoon cream, heavy cream or half and half

1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

I like the intense and bright flavor that lemon zest brings to lemon baked items.  If you zested two lemons before baking you should still have enough for this frosting.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the cream and allow it to start to bubble but not boil.  Add 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and stir to dissolve.  Keep stirring until it starts to pull away from the pan behind the spoon.  If it is too thick or thin, add more milk or powdered sugar.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon flavoring and the zest. If you want, you can add a drop of yellow food coloring, but the zest will add a hint of yellow.

Quickly spoon the frosting over each scone. I like to cover the scone and allow it to drip down the sides of the scone.  

I scrape the remaining frosting in clumps on the wax paper.  Then I put the hardened drops in a small container for a future snack. Waste not, want not!

These scones were a great addition to our little tea party.

 We all liked them.  Even Anika approved!