Rhubarb scones

This morning while lingering over tea, a plate of scones and the Sunday paper, I was brought to pondering coffee house scones and why we eat them. For me, each time I break down and buy one, I am reminded why I really shouldn't (calories and cost aside). They're tasty-ish, but not fantastic, and their texture often seems designed more for durability than edibility. I guess each time there's some vague hope that this time it will be really good, like a real hot scone straight from your oven. This recipe originally called for letting the scones cool completely on a rack. Are you nuts? That gives up half of their appeal and you might as well be eating a coffee house scone.

Now to see if I can make it through a summer with enough resolve to bypass the Thursday morning farmers market baked goods stand that I walk by on the way to my office. I know they aren't that great. I know that. No really. It's just like an outdoor coffee house.

These, however, are lovely.

Rhubarb vanilla scones

Adapted from baketotheroots.de

 

Ingredients

1¼ cups chopped fresh rhubarb

1 tablespoon plus ¼ cup sugar, divided

2 cups flour

2¼ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 orange

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

¾ cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1¼ teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

½ cup sifted powdered sugar

½ to 1 tablespoon milk 

Method

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 390 degrees. (This being a recipe from a German site, that's the translation for 200 C. My old Jenn-Air stove doesn't let me calibrate the temperature to quite that degree, so I just set it slightly below the 400 mark and it seemed to work out fine.)

Toss rhubarb pieces with 1 tablespoon of sugar and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ¼ cup sugar, salt and orange zest. Add the butter and mix in with a pastry blender or two table knives until the mixture is crumbly. 

Mix together the cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and the egg. Mix into dry ingredients using a wooden spoon until well combined. Fold in rhubarb.

Transfer mixture to a lightly floured board. Flatten into a disk about 1-inch thick. Cut into 8 triangles. (A dough scraper is the perfect tool for both transferring the dough to the board and then cutting it into wedges.)

Transfer wedges to baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden.

Whisk together powdered sugar, remaining ¼ teaspoon vanilla and just enough milk to make desired glaze consistency. Drizzle over warm scones. (Note, this is half the glaze amount the original recipe called for, but I thought it made plenty.) And jolly well eat them while they're warm, or reheat them later.

Rating: Very nice indeed. Good rhubarb flavor, a hint of orange and a very nice texture: not too crumbly, but not cakelike either. Very light. I've made some rhubarb scones before, but these definitely have the edge, and will become an annual way to use some rhubarb.