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White Chocolate and Sour Cherry Scones

Adapted from Pure Dessert (Artisan) by Alice Medrich
You can swap out dark chocolate for the white chocolate chunks. I prefer to used chopped chocolate because those pre-prepared chips don’t melt and get as gooey when baked. You can also swap out any other bits of diced dried fruit for the sour cherries; California dried apricots would be fantastic with the white chocolate chunks. See the Notes at the end of the recipe for tips on handling the dough.
  • 1 large egg
  • a scant 1/2 cup (115 ml) cream, whole, or low-fat milk
  • 1 1/3 cup (170g) flour
  • 1/3 cup (45g) buckwheat flour
  • 1/3 cup (45g) cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
  • 1/3 cup (65g) sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
  • 1 cup (140g) white chocolate chunks
  • 1/2 cup (60g) coarsely-chopped dried sour cherries
  • 1 teaspoon egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon milk
  • coarse sugar (or granulated) for dredging the scones
  • Preheat the oven to 400F (200C) and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl, stir together the egg with the milk or cream.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, buckwheat, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  • Using a pastry cutter, work in the cold butter until the pieces are about the size of corn kernels. (You could use an electric mixer or food processor instead.)
  • Add the egg mixture, stirring with a spatula, until the dough is moistened, then stir in the white chocolate bits and sour cherries.
  • On a lightly-floured surface, pat the dough into an 8-inch (20 cm) round. If it’s too wet and is very sticky, knead in a spoonful or two of flour on the countertop. (The originally recipe called for 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk and cream, and my dough was very sticky, which may be the original intent, but I found it hard to work with. Slightly less than 1/2 cup, (115 ml) seemed right. Good thing making scones isn’t rocket science!)
  • Use a pastry scraper to divide the dough into eight wedges.
  • Brush the tops of each wedge with the a glaze made by stirring the egg yolk with the teaspoon of milk together with a fork. Dip the top of each scone in small bowl of coarse or regular sugar so they’re generously coated, then set each one right-side up on the baking sheet, evenly-spaced apart.
  • Bake the scones for 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Notes

Notes: There’s two theories about making biscuits and scones; one says the batter should be firm enough the cut, the other says it should be wet and spoonable. If your dough is very soft, or you don’t want to get the counter dirty, you can certainly spoon it onto the prepared baking sheet in 8 mounds.
For firm, neater-looking scones, the dough should be not too sticky and you can knead a bit more flour into the dough. I’m happy to sacrifice picture-perfect scones for ones that are light and tender. If you’re looking for a sturdier scone, you might want to check out my Chocolate Cherry Scone recipe in my book, The Great Book of Chocolate.
Since the scone dough is on the soft side, this is the time to get out your metal pastry scraper. If you don’t have one, a metal spatula will make lifting the dough, and the cut scones, a little easier.