I think my prayer partners and I have been enjoying “high tea” with our spouses to break up the dreariness of winter for the past fifteen years, and 2024 was no exception!
There were so many delectable offerings this winter that over the next couple of months I’m going to be sharing recipes for many of the dishes, but today I want to tell you about a new way of making scones that we all liked. Rex said it almost reminded him of key lime pie, which (being one of my favorites) made me especially happy. I’m not a huge fan of scones, since sometimes they seem a little too dry and not quite sweet enough.
To me, the result of my experiments are reminiscent of shortbread, but by the time you add some lemon curd and clotted cream, it’s definitely UK classic.
Like many special recipes, lemon drop scones have a couple of secret ingredients. One is lemon curd. Mrs. Darlington’s is the bomb, but there are many delicious types available, so whatever you can find at your store will be just lovely. It’s also super easy to make fresh, so if you want to make your own, it will probably taste even better than Mrs. Darlington’s!
The other secret ingredient is fresh lemons, and there’s no substituting anything for fresh in this recipe. It takes all the juice and pulp and zest you can garner from three large lemons, and it makes ALL the difference, so don’t scrimp on this. In fact, I start by grating off as much of the peel as I can get from 3 large lemons, than cutting each one in half and grinding out every last bit of lemon juice. I even scrape off the last bits of juicy pulp from the edges of the lemons and the juicer. The more the bester!
Lemon Drop Scones
(Can make 10-12 slices)
Preheat oven to 375°
Ingredients for the scones:
3 cups flour
1/2 cups sugar
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter (added in pat-sized slices)
1/2 cup light cream
3/8 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (with pulp)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
To make them, add the dry ingredients together in your blender bowl, but mix them by hand, then slice the cold butter into pats and add them, again stirring by hand so that they are all individually covered with flour.
Then, slowly start the mixer and blend just long enough for the butter to become pea-sized chunks (or smaller). One trick is to always mix as little as necessary. (Many people do this all by hand, but I’ve found you can use a mixer if you don’t over-mix at any step.)
Add the cream and blend lightly, then add the lemon juice and lemon zest, and mix lightly again.
On a heavily floured counter top, scrape out the pastry and form it into a soft, sticky ball. Add just enough of the flour to make it possible to roll out.
Roll it out into a circle that’s about 1″ thick. Notice you can see chunks of butter and flecks of lemon under the surface. That’s the way you want it to look! :)
With a sharp knife, divide the circle into 10-12 slices. I tend to intentionally make some smaller and some larger (unless you know everybody wants as much as possible!).
You can go one of two routes for the baking. I prefer placing them in a pizza pan, but they will end up softer this way. If you like the edges crusty, then separate them more and bake them on a large cookie sheet with about 1.5 inches between each slice so all the edges bake and become crisp.
Bake at 375° for about 22-25 minutes, or until the scones are golden on top but still soft. If you bake the scones in a pizza pan, the pieces will have baked together, so take the same sharp knife and cut them apart again.
While they bake, make the glaze:
Lemon-Butter Glaze
In a blender, combine:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or juice from one lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
Blend until smooth; it will look almost like soft butter.
Spread the lemon butter evenly over the scones so that it rests on the top and seeps down into the cracks. Use it all!
Serve warm with clotted cream (heavy cream whipped until it starts to clot; or—which isn’t as traditionally British but I like—beat 1 cup heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar until medium peaks form) and lemon curd on top. It really does take scones to a new level!
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:1).
Summer Setting 