Blueberry-Blackberry Honey Butter-Glazed Scones

It's been one of those days... stuck in a class that was a waste of my time, got home later than I wanted to, hungry, grumpy, bleh. I started baking this set of scones to use up whipping cream before it went bad and wouldn't you know it, I had trouble with them. They poofed up huge and kind of ran all over the place. I forgot to use a rimmed baking sheet and had butter burning on the bottom of the oven which caused smoke to billow all over the place. Then I pulled them out of the oven and put the glaze on them only to realize that most of them weren't actually done yet which meant they had to go back into the oven. gggrrr.

The good news is that I *think* I know why the last several batches of scones I have made have poofed up huge and unattractive -- I'm adding too much liquid to the dry ingredients and I'm making them too big. It's a theory... The bad news is that my grumpy-bad-juju baking managed to affect Chris... he lit a pan on fire while he was making dinner, then over-seared the steaks, which was really upsetting because we have both been looking forward to this particular meal (Morimoto's Steak with Garlic Aus Jus) for a while now. He boiled veal stock all day yesterday just so we could get a 1/2 cup of glaze for these steaks...

The good news for him (and me) is that the steaks were a touch crispy on the outside, but still nice and rare in the middle, plus we still have plenty of the glaze which means we can try again next week sometime with new steaks.

Okay, back to the scones. Marcy Goldman claims that the key to preserving scones for a few days -- since almost all recipes recommend eating them on the same day they are made, if not shortly after they come out of the oven -- is to put a honey-butter glaze on them. Apply it once right after they come out of the oven, and then again 15 minutes later. I'm not sure if they will last long enough to try on day 3 or 4, but if they do, I'm really interested in how they hold up.

The small bits I tasted of these were great. Blackberry and blueberry wrapped in buttery, biscuity, sweet goodness. mmmm.... I love scones.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup, approximately, whipping cream
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen blackberries
1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen blueberries

Finishing Touch:
milk or melted butter, for brushing

Glaze:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Put lemon juice in a 1-cup measuring cup, pour in whipping cream to 1 -cup mark, and let stand a few minutes to make soured cream.

Preheat oven to 425. Stack two baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and blend briefly. Add butter and pulse to make a course, grainy mixture. Turn out mixture into a large bowl and make a well in center. Add egg, vanilla, and enough soured cream to make a soft but firm dough. Gently fold in berries.

Knead briefly on a lightly floured work surface, adding more flour, if required to make a firm dough. Pat out to 1-inch thickness. Cut into wedges or rounds and place on prepared baking sheets. Brush each scone with milk or melted butter.

Bake until scones are nicely browned, about 16 to 19 minutes.

Meanwhile, for Glaze, heat honey and butter in a liquid measuring cup in a microwave until mixture is just simmering, about 1 1/2 minutes at HIGH, stirring after 45 seconds.

Brush scones lightly with honey-butter glaze as they come out of oven. Let stand on baking sheets. Repeat with more honey-butter glaze, more generously about 15 minutes later.