Fresh Red Currant Scones

For a couple of weeks we received fresh red currants in our CSA and short of mixing it with some vodka (which, of course I did!) I was not really sure what to do with them since most recipes call for dried ones.  However, Nick did some digging and found a recipe from a blog on gardening.  So, on a recent Saturday morning I was treated to fresh scones - not a bad deal!

Fresh out of the oven!

To be honest, I was not even sure what the berries were - they looked like the poisonous ones on the bushes in the woods.  The second time we got them I thought it was time to put the gorgeous berries to some good use. 

Fresh Currants

The Necessities...

• 1 cup of fresh currants


• 1 3/4 cups of flour


• 3 teaspoons of baking powder


• 1/4 cup of sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon of salt


• 1/3 cup of butter - cold


• 2 eggs


• 1/3 cup of milk (skim milked is what we used)


• Cinnamon and sugar

So while we thought we had plenty of currants, turns out we were short - by a lot.  No worries, though: we're only two people, so we halved the recipe and and added a few raisins to get to the 1/2 cup we needed. 

Currants and Raisins

To begin, Nick sifted together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Dry Ingredients...

Next, he cut in the butter with my pastry blender until the mixture resembled coarse crumbs.  At that point he carefully stirred in the currant and raisin mixture, doing his best to keep them in tact!

with the currants

In a separate bowl Nick whisked together the milk and the eggs and stirred it gently into the currant/dry ingredient mixture.  When it was all combined, he flipped the dough onto the floured counter-top.  Without touching the dough too much he shaped the dough into a round shape - about 6 inches across and about 3/4 of an inch thick.  From there he cut it into 4 triangular pieces. 

Dough - almost scones

He put each piece on a cookie sheet and sprinkled the top with a good helping of cinnamon and sugar.  The scones went into a 350 degree over for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Scones!

Needless to say when Nick came out of the kitchen with some fresh scones and a large mug of coffee I was a happy girl!  These scones were light and fluffy, which can be a difficult consistency to master in the scones as they can get heavy feeling.  This recipe could easily be adapted to really any berry and would be well worth it!