I still had half a carton of heavy cream sitting in the fridge leftover from the ganache for my chocolate cupcakes. It kills me to waste cream, butter or chocolate even when the stuff I make sometimes ends up in the trash anyway. I just can't throw out straight cream, butter or chocolate. Since I wasn't up for the caloric overkill of whipping cream pound cake I made these cream biscuits from ATK. I threw in some cheddar and dill for some savoury goodness.
The dry.
Pour in the heavy cream
Stir until it comes together with a spatula, but don't over do it.
Knead lightly until it comes together into a ball. I like to do this over saran wrap so clean up is easy.
Squish down and cut into squares. I like squares because there are no scraps to deal with. Plus, I don't have biscuit cutters :(
I can never help picking at something warm. So the rise wasn't so great, but the texture was really nice and soft, something I would have expected considering it was made with heavy cream.
Cream Biscuits
America's Test Kitchen's Revised Cookbook Chock Full Of Recipes
These are very simple, made with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and heavy cream — NO butter or Crisco.
2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.
2. Pat the dough into a ¾-inch thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or 8 wedges using a knife. Place the biscuits on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
I really liked the creamy texture that the pumpkin added to these biscuits. Even my dad told me he liked these. I thought I was actually making progress with changing my family's mind about pumpkin until he had another one and realized that he was just starving before. O well, pumpkin just isn't for this family. I have to admit that I wasn't crazy about the taste of these either (or my embarrassing flour spots). Maybe it would have been better with the sweet potato, but I had some leftover pumpkin from the pumpkin patch cupcakes that I wanted to finish up.
Thanks to Erin of Prudence Pennywise for choosing this week's recipe! Don't forget to visit the TWD Blogroll. 
I'm not generally a huge scone fan except for maybe cream scones. I mean, how can something made with butter and cream not be melt-in-your-mouth tender?! This time I went with a recipe that's a little lighter, but still pretty rich. Using CI's blueberry scone recipe, I substituted the blueberries for craisins and doubled the lemon zest. To further enhance the lemon flavour, I used Dorie's tip to rub the zest with the sugar. CI's directions tell you to grate frozen butter, but I skipped that step because I don't like cleaning the box grater with bits of greasy butter stuck inside. I know they say it's the trick and I would totally do it if it made a huge difference, but I don't think the texture of these suffered. As long as it's still pebbly with pea size chunks and you don't rub the cold butter into the flour completely until it's a uniform mixture, they should be fine. And... sometimes I actually do like to keep it simple! Overall, these were really fluffy and soft. Best of all they were still moist the next day, but needed to be toasted to bring back those addicting crispy edges.
I actually made this recipe last year after my England trip when I was searching for a recipe just like the yummy scones from Harrods. I saw one posted on the internet, but seeing as there isn't that much butter and is made entirely of milk makes me wonder if they will be soft and fluffy.
Lemon Cranberry Scones
Cook's Illustrated
It is important to work the dough as little as possible—work quickly and knead and fold the dough only the number of times called for. The butter should be frozen solid before grating. In hot or humid environments, chill the flour mixture and workbowls before use. While the recipe calls for 2 whole sticks of butter, only 10 tablespoons are actually used (see step 1). If fresh berries are unavailable, an equal amount of frozen berries (do not defrost) can be substituted. An equal amount of raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries can be used in place of the blueberries. Cut larger berries into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces before incorporating. Refrigerate or freeze leftover scones, wrapped in foil, in an airtight container. To serve, remove foil and place scones on a baking sheet in a 375-degree oven. Heat until warmed through and recrisped, 8 to 10 minutes if refrigerated, 16 to 20 minutes if frozen. See final step for information on making the scone dough in advance.
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen whole (see note above)
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh, about 7 1/2 ounces, picked over (see note) (I used 1 cup craisins)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional all-purpose flour, for work surface
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar, for sprinkling (3 1/2 ounces)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated (I used 2 tsp)
Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Score and remove half of wrapper from each stick of frozen butter. Grate butter and place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt 2 tablespoons of remaining ungrated butter and set aside. Save remaining 6 tablespoons butter for another use. Place blueberries in freezer until needed.
2. Whisk together milk and sour cream in medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; fold with spatula until just combined. With rubber spatula, transfer dough to liberally floured work surface. Dust surface of dough with flour; with floured hands, knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.
4. Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square. Fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to countertop. Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes
5. Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll into approximate 12-inch square again. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough. Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from work surface. Roll dough, pressing to form tight log. Lay seam-side down and press log into 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
7. To Make Ahead: After placing the scones on the baking sheet, either refrigerate them overnight or freeze. When ready to bake, for refrigerated scones, heat oven to 425 degrees and follow directions in step 6. For frozen scones, heat oven to 375 degrees, follow directions in step 6, and extend cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes.
These may not be the prettiest looking things, but they sure were yummy. Since I enjoyed the melt in your mouth texture of the whipping cream pound cake, I wanted to see if it would have the same effect on scones. Instead of taking out the food processor, I used my fingers to cut the butter into the flour. As much as I love using appliances, cleaning up can be a pain and it actually feels good to be using my hands once in a while instead of relying on machines. I don't think these were supposed to look all clumpy, but when I dumped the heavy cream into the flour mixture, it wasn't exactly incorporating. Certain sections were absorbing while other parts were still floury. I didn't want to overmix so I just pressed the pieces together. Compared to the scones made with sour cream and buttermilk, I enjoyed these the best because of how soft they were. I halved the recipe and ended up with 8 mini ones instead of the 8 large ones. Considering that an entire tablespoon of heavy cream is in a single scone (16% of your recommended sat fat intake for one day).. don't forget about the butter either, I would probably be mad if these didn't have the melt in your mouth texture. If you're ever in the mood for splurging on scones..haha, I would say try these!
My mom is obsessed with scones so I'm going to try the ones made with sour cream again because I have a feeling I may have overmixed the first time around. Plus, it would be nice to see if I could get comparable results without using heavy cream. Does anyone have any good ideas (savoury or sweet?) for add-ins other than chocolate? I went with cranberry orange this time because I really enjoyed it in my muffins and I'm not too crazy about plain ones because it feels like I'm eating a blob of dough.
Cream Scones
Cook's Illustrated, taken from here
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar (I added 4 tbsps for a bit more sweetness)
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup currants (I used craisins)
1 cup heavy cream
(I added zest of one orange)
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl or workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender, or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few
slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants (craisins). If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.
4. Stir in heavy cream with rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds. (I would probably add this gradually instead of dumping it in at once next time)
5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Cut scones into 8 wedges. Place wedges on ungreased baking sheet. (Baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
6. Bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Flaky is definitely not my thing, so when it comes to biscuits, tea biscuits, pie crust, I can easily pass them by. Despite not liking them, biscuits have definitely been on my to-bake list for a long time mostly because I love how they just split in half when they're pullled apart. I chose this recipe because there was no food processor to clean, no frozen butter to grate and everything is done in one bowl, and two measuring cups. If the food processor made superior biscuits, I would drag that thing out, but this was a Cook's Illustrated recipe (how can I not believe them!). The coolest part was watching the melted butter turn into clumps when it was poured into the buttermilk. That's actually the secret to fluffy and flaky biscuits because the clumps mimick the effect of frozen clumped butter. Even though I'm not crazy about biscuits, these were pretty good and very light tasting. They were especially yummy with peanut butter!
By the way, what kind of baking sheets do you use when the baking temperature is 475!! If I used my jelly roll instead of the airbakes, the bottoms would have burned badly before the top would even cook. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a non burning, nicely browning jelly roll or cookie sheet pan?
Cook's Illustrated
Best Drop Biscuits Recipe
I will never forget the raisin scones at Harrod's high tea with their subtly sweet flavour and very fluffy texture. Since then, I've been dying for another one smothered with none other than clotted cream and jam! After hearing such rave reviews about Cook's Illustrated best blueberry scones, I decided to give them a try. These were definitely more labour intensive than Dorie's apple cheddar scones, from grating the frozen butter to rolling the dough out and folding it back up again, but it was well worth it. Although I wasn't able to get quite the fluffiness I wanted, these were pretty close. Luckily, my dollar store grater held up for the job, but it's definitely time for an upgrade to a large microplane.
These were supposed to be the best and they did not disappoint. Even my brother had a whole one and he usually doesn't eat a full-anything that I bake other than chocolate chip cookies. Maybe it was the un-dessert like nature of these scones that caught his attention because when it comes to desserts or anything sweet (other than candy) you literally have to offer it to him and sometimes force feed. Weird.. I know.. but on the bright side, there's never a fight for chocolate! It would be nice if I were like that for the sake of my never growing waistline since starting a blog, but then I would be missing out on all the wonderful desserts.
These are definitely on the 'make again' list and if you like your scones soft and fluffy, you have to try them out. They are portioned really big though so you might want to make them a little smaller. Now.. I must get some clotted cream!
Best Blueberry Scones Recipe
* I substituted 1/2 cup raisins for the blueberries
* Before adding the raisins in the dough, I plumped them up using CI's trick by microwaving them for 30 seconds with 1 tsp of water and then drying them on a paper towel
* I reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup since raisins are prety sweet in general
I was so excited when Dorie's book finally arrived so I could participate in my first TWD baking event. To be honest, I wasn't overly excited about this recipe because I've never really liked scones. I was even tempted to make only half the recipe in case nobody would eat them, but decided to just stick to the original. My experiences with them have usually been tough, hard and a little crumbly. These on the other hand were really tender and soft! I really liked the addition of cornmeal because it added just enough crunch without being rough. I wasn't too sure about the apple + cheddar combination so I made half the batch with apples only and the second batch with apple + cheese. Next time I make these, I think I'll load them up with more dried apples + cheese and maybe 1/2 tsp more salt. Sweet and salty is quite the delicious combination!
The dough was so sticky I wasn't exactly sure how to knead it, but it all came together nicely after a very generous dusting. There was actually a little sticking so I used the edge of my Chinese rectangular knife to scrap the dough off the counter. I must get myself a pastry scraper, those food network chefs make it look so much fun whenever they're scrapping away at their counter. Anway, after 10 minutes in the oven, there was significant browning on the bottom and pale tops. There was also some smoke coming out (my fault for using old parchment) so I finished the rest of the baking at 350. Next time I'm going to use my insulated cookie sheets, since those always manage to leave my chocolate chip cookies nice and pale.. haha. Overall, making scones was kind of fun because of its simplicity and of course, all the squishing of butter into flour with your fingers. Luckily I didn't freeze any because the scones disappeared quicker than I expected. 
Thanks to Karina of The Floured Apron for choosing this recipe, which can be found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours. Don't forget to checkout the TWD Blogroll!
By the way, the devil's food white-out cake was such a hit that I was asked to make another one for a birthday party. I love Dorie's recipes!!
