I’m preparing for Thanksgiving and for my sole visitor, my father, who loves a proper English scone. Unfortunately, I am fairly certain these currant scones are not proper by any British standards. And I know that after one bite, my father will in fact tell me that what I have served him is not a proper British scon. And I have no doubt he’ll then proceed to devour two or three, slathering each with butter and jam, uttering mumbles of approval all along the way. I can’t wait. About these scones: when I find a recipe I like, I tend to stick with it. Tartine’s buttermilk scone recipe is the one I use year-round, studded with berries in the summer and currants in the winter. The dough freezes beautifully, too, so I often freeze unbaked scones for a future morning. What to serve with currant scones? Good Irish butter is an obvious choice, but I’ve been loving them with Tartine’s lemon cream, which is luscious and bright and a perfect complement to the slightly sweet scones. The recipe is linked in the recipe box below. Note: these scones certainly don’t need anything as spectacular as homemade lemon cream — they honestly don’t even need a dab of butter — but if you’re feeling the gilding-the-lily spirit that is the holiday season, then go for it. Incidentally, I have been watching Call the Midwife — amazing! — and have been craving proper English scons since hearing the midwives giggle about them in the last episode. I might have to give a proper recipe a try. British Readers, thank you for alerting my attention to CTM. It is as wonderful as you said. Just when I thought I couldn’t love a character more than DCS Foyle, Chummy walked into my life. Lemon cream ingredients: 4.9 from 11 reviews Find the Lemon Cream recipe here. UPDATE: I recently re-wrote the recipe as a half recipe, because I found myself always making the half recipe, which yields a more manageable amount (6 to 8 as opposed to 16-18). As always, for best results, use a digital scale to measure. Sugar: You can sprinkle the scones with granulated sugar before baking, but turbinado sugar makes for an especially tasty and pretty crust. Salt: If you are using Morton Kosher salt or fine sea salt, use half as much by volume or the same amount by weight. To freeze: After you place the scones on a sheet pan, transfer them to the freezer. Freeze until solid; then transfer the scones to an airtight container or bag. When you are ready to bake, there’s no need to thaw them. Bake as directed below straight from the freezer. (Brust with butter and sprinkle with sugar before baking.) The scones shouldn’t take much longer to bake from frozen, but keep an eye on them at the 20-minute mark. To make your own buttermilk:
