Vanilla Cherry Scones

Another lazy Sunday morning and my mind was starting to whirl with baking ideas. I love scones and biscuits of any kind - savory or sweet. I recently made bacon, cheddar and chive scones and can say I am still swooning over those lovelies. But today I wanted something sweet to enjoy with a nice, strong cup of coffee.

Last week I had purchased some delicious cherry jam, not the smooth kind but a thick and lumpy variety filled with chunks of cherries. I figured it would work as a great sandwich filling in some sweet scones.

The basic scone recipe can be found in the Pastry Queen's cookbook for her Peach Jam Scones. I halved the dough recipe and still ended up with 8 dense and sweet scones.

Don't go overboard on the jam layer though or the scones will slide apart during the baking process. I learned this the hard way. The nice thing though is if they do just continue to bake and when they are done, take them out and gently nudge the tops back onto the bottom layer of the scone. As the jam filling cools it will act like a glorious sugar glue and hold the scone together perfectly.

I used round scalloped cutters but feel free to use whatever cutter you have. These are also very nice as bite size scones too.

LET'S BEGIN

I recommend not adding as much jam as this because,
as mentioned above, the tops will start to slide during baking.
If you are like me and want a good dose of jam,
then just slide the tops back on during the cooling phase.

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 unsalted butter, cold and grated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup cherry jam - thick variety works best.
1/4 cup heavy cream
Turbinado or vanilla sugar for sprinkling

MAKE IT

PREHEAT OVEN to 425F
LINE a standard cookie sheet with parchment paper
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 4 ingredients
ADD grated butter and blend with your hands til slightly combined.
ADD vanilla extract to the buttermilk and stir to combine.
ADD buttermilk/ vanilla wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mixing in with your hands til you can form a shaggy ball of dough.
DO NOT OVER-MIX
ON FLOUR DUSTED WORK SURFACE, pat out dough into 1 1/2 inch thick rectangle
SPREAD THIN LAYER of jam over dough
FOLD dough in half
PRESS down dough slightly
WITH BISCUIT CUTTER, cut out scones and place on cookie sheet
BRUSH heavy cream over tops and sprinkle with sugar
BAKE 12 minutes for small scones and up to 18 minutes for large ones. The tops should turn a nice golden brown but check after 10 minutes until done to avoid over-baking
SERVE warm or at room temperature

ENJOY !