Sweet or Savoury, Scones Satisfy

Being a mom of a small child, you realize that being able to grab something at a moment's notice may be your only chance of eating during the day. Scones are quite perfect for this; a light, flaky pastry which eases hunger until you are able to make a real meal.

This week's Baking Beauties assignment was to make plain scones, however, I decided to deviate from the original Julia Child recipe to create something a little more exciting.

I made both a savoury and a sweet version of the delightful pastry, opting for a refreshing lavender & lemon and wonderfully balanced dried pear & aged Gouda. I really can not tell you which one was more well received.



For the lavender & lemon scones, I didn't do much to alter the recipe. I substituted lavender sugar for regular granulated sugar, and I added about one tablespoon of lavender buds to the recipe. Since the recipe already called for lemon zest (quite a lot as well), there was no need for any other additions.

The alterations for the dried pear and aged Gouda were also quite simple. The addition of dried pear guarantees an intensity of flavour and sweetness that helps balance out the pungency of the Gouda. Drying out pear slices took minimal effort; I sliced two Bartlett pears, laying the slices out on a baking sheet and baked them for four hours at 200 degrees F (flipping once halfway through). I diced the dried pears (about 6 tablespoons in total)and added, along with two cups of grated Gouda, right before incorporating the milk. A large pinch of cayenne pepper with a healthy dash of fleur de sel helped to round out of the flavour of the scone.

This is definitely a recipe I will go back to. I just think it will be hard to decide what flavour to make next!