Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 3

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cherry chocolate scones
Where’s that cup of tea to go along?

Okay, we’ve steeped the cherries on day one, made and froze the scone dough on day two. Today is the day of truth and feasting: we’ll bake our scones.

Just as a reminder, we made a double batch of scones — not recommended — so the photos will show double the amount.

And, so you don’t need to refer back to the last two days, we include the shortened version of the entire recipe.

Chocolate Cherry Scones

Author: Shawn

Ingredients

For the cherries

  • 118 g water (1/2 cup)
  • 105 g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
  • 20 g kirsch (optional) (1 Tbs + 2 tsp)
  • 1/4 vanilla bean split lengthwise
  • 105 g dried tart cherries (3/4 cup + 2 Tbs)

For the scones

  • 332 g all-purpose flour (2 1/4 cups + 2 Tbs)
  • 6.5 g baking powder (1 3/8 tsp)
  • 4.5 g baking soda (3/4 + 1/8 tsp)
  • 2.2 g kosher salt (3/4 tsp)
  • 133 g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (9 Tbs + 1 tsp)
  • 178 g heavy cream (3/4 cup)
  • 105 g chocolate chips (1/2 cup)

For the glaze

  • 100 g Confectioners' sugar (3/4 cup + 2 Tbs)
  • 45 to 50 g Reserved cherry syrup (2 1/2 to 3 Tbs)
  • 30 g heavy cream (2 Tbs)

Instructions

For the cherries -- Day 1

  • In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, sugar,and kirsch, if using. Using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add seeds and bean to the mixture. Bring to a simmer. Strain to remove large pieces of vanilla. Return syrup to pan, add cherries, and bring back to a simmer. Remove from heat and cool.
  • Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate overnight.

For the scones -- Day 2

  • Strain cherries, reserving about 3 Tbs of the syrup for making the glaze.
  • Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low for about 15 seconds.
  • With the mixer on low, add butter pieces and mix for about 3 minutes to incorporate the butter completely.
  • Slowly add cream and mix just until a dough forms around the paddle. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
  • Add cherries and chocolate chips, and pulse to combine.
  • Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours to firm the dough.
  • Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
  • Use an ice cream scoop to form about 30 equal portions of dough, placing on lined baking mat. Wrap and freeze until solid, overnight.

For the glaze -- Day 3

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange scones on baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment, leaving 1-inch spacing between each.
  • Bake for 25 to 27 minutes, rotating top to bottom and front to back halfway through, or until golden brown.
  • While the scones bake, whisk together powdered sugar and 45 g (2 1/2 Tbs) reserved syrup in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in cream, adding more syrup if needed to maintain a glaze-like consistency.
  • Brush glaze on scones immediately after removing from the oven. Cool completely.

Ingredient discussion:

See Monday’s post for our thoughts. Or not. Either way, we won’t know.

Procedure in detail:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a couple of baking sheets with silicone baking mats or baking parchment.

cherry chocolate scones
Bake them frozen — how great is that? — just leave an inch of space around each scone.

Arrange. These scones don’t really spread, but they do need to have hot air circulate around them, so place them on your lined sheets leaving about an inch of space between scones.

Bake. Slide into the oven and bake until golden brown, rotating top to bottom and front to back halfway through, about 25 to 27 minutes.

making glaze
With the reserved cherry liquid, this glaze will be a delicate pink.
making glaze
Drizzle in the cream. If you measured carefully, your glaze should be perfect.

Make glaze. While the scones are baking, whisk together the powdered sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid (save just a bit for thinning the glaze, if needed). Once smooth, slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Now, if needed, whisk in a bit of the reserved liquid to adjust consistency.

glazing scones
Yes, brush while still hot. Then cool completely.

Glaze. As soon as the scones are out of the oven, brush them with glaze, letting it run down the sides. Feel free to taste a bit of the glaze if you’re so inclined. We are, of course.

Cool. Let the scones cool completely and the glaze dry before removing them from the pans.

As we expected, these cherry scones are great, but we really don’t expect lesser quality goods to come from one of Chef Keller’s cookbooks. And, perhaps the most surprising thing is that this recipe (like most recipes in his books) uses ordinary ingredients and techniques that anyone can master. This one is actually easier than most that we’ve tried. Five stars.

Worth the trouble?

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