Showing posts with label Cream Scones with Amaretto Cherries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cream Scones with Amaretto Cherries. Show all posts

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Devonshire Cream


I am a huge fan of clotted cream, and have been ever since I experienced my first cream tea in London back in 1997. It's expensive to buy in those little jars (and not all that easy to find), although I do, on occasion, treat myself to the original thing. I know that clotted cream can be made at home, but I've not had great success with that, so when I came across a recipe for Devonshire Cream I thought I'd give it a try. No, it is not clotted cream, but it is a nice substitute, and goes together in a flash. 

I experimented with a couple of different recipes, and I like this one the best, because it's not overly sweet. Authentic clotted cream isn't sweet at all, but Devonshire Cream is, so I like to keep that sweetness to a minimum by adding more cream cheese than sugar. You can experiment on your own, adding an additional tablespoon of sugar (or more), or even going so far as to adding a drop or two of flavoring like vanilla or almond just to change things up a bit. For me, this is the best recipe for Devonshire Cream around. It goes wonderfully well with yesterday's Cream Scones with Amaretto Cherries, so give it a try.
 Devonshire Cream

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and salt. Slowly stream in whipping cream, beating constantly, and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Chill for two hours before serving. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

NOTE: I used my stand mixer with the whisk attachment to make this. I found it worked much better when streaming in
the cream. As you can see from the photos, the results were beautiful.


Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Cream Scones with Amaretto Cherries


I've been having a lot of fun working with bing cherries, but decided to switch from the fresh ones to the dried ones because, after all, bing cherry season need never be over as long as you have a package of delicious and sweet dried cherries in your pantry.

Because I had such wonderful success with adding amaretto to the cherry preserves, I decided to make some scones with amaretto cherries in them. You have to plan ahead for this recipe by soaking your dried bing cherries in amaretto overnight. Once that's done, the scones go together easily and are, I think, the best scones I've ever eaten. Topped with homemade Devonshire cream (that recipe will be coming up tomorrow), and a dollop of delicious fresh Bing Cherry Preserves, nothing is better for breakfast than this. Whether you are serving it to guests at some special occasion breakfast or brunch, or just treating yourself, these are wonderful!
Cream Scones with Amaretto Cherries

2 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
soaked overnight in 1/3 cup Amaretto
1 egg
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring
1/3 cup heavy cream

Heavy Cream
Sanding Sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Drain cherries; set aside.

In the work bowl of a food processor combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter.  Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal; empty mixture into a large bowl. Add cherries, toss to coat.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together egg, cream, and almond flavoring.  When thoroughly blended, pour it over the flour mixture in the large bowl and fold until it just comes together.  Add 1-3 more teaspoons of cream, if needed.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, press into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Cut out rounds with a 2" biscuit cutter and arrange 2 inches apart on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Gather scraps together and cut out additional scones.

Brush tops of scones with cream and sprinkle liberally with sanding sugar. Bake scones, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until edges are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving.

Makes 8-10

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