Recipe Review: Lavender Blueberry Scones
Photo by Home Cook’s Kitchen
As a senior here at Centenary College, I have come upon a recent realization that adulthood is impending. Now, I am not implying that college-age students are not adults. We can vote, sign up for the military, and take out thousands of dollars in crippling student loan debt all at the ripe age of 18. But on May 7th, Centenary will be pushing us late 90s and early 00s babies out of the nest. Say goodbye to the days of custodians cleaning our bathrooms and Ms. Shirley making omelets to cure our Sunday morning hangovers. When people ask college graduates what their hobbies consist of, spouting off all 10 campus organizations that you receive the occasional GroupMe notification for is not an appropriate response. Way back in August of 2018, the Class of 2020s grownup pants were put on backorder, and now, the package is out for Amazon two-day (month) shipping.
All of this being said, my existential crisis made me think about the skills needed to successively survive on my own, and after reading countless BuzzFeed articles about “adulting” by cringey millennials, my mind has settled on one worry—how am I going to cook for myself? Grownups don’t have Sodexo to cheat their food needs like a Sim. If I expect to make it in the scary real world, I need to master the art of box pancake mix and grilled cheese sandwiches, and I need to start now. So, beginning January of this year, my New Year’s resolution has been to cook as much as possible.
Now, before y’all come for me for the complexity of this recipe, I may have been exaggerating my lack of cooking skills. In the previous paragraph, I had created a compelling sob story, but in all fairness, I am not 100% clueless in the culinary world. The Food Network is not on their hands and knees begging for me to star in their new hit show, but I might be able to land a job as a fast-food line cook if post-graduation plans fall through. Hamburger Helper and Stouffer’s Lasagna are my specialties, and as a biology major, chemistry lab with Dr. Ticich has definitely proved the importance of strictly following instructions. So, warning, if you are looking for an easy recipe for beginners, you are in the wrong place. BUT, if you are seeking out a mid-tier, Tik-Tokesque recipe to distract from impending due dates and is Insta-story-worthy, I have just the one for you—Lavender Blackberry Scones.
I found this recipe late one-night scrolling through edgy Tumblr quotes and pretentious abstract art on Pinterest, and for some reason, my sleep-deprived brain took it as a challenge. Upon looking closer the next morning, I grew slightly hesitant. I am sure that we all have binged enough reality cooking shows to know that baking is harder than O-Chem, and even the simplest recipes can take a wrong turn quickly. Baking is essentially controlled chaos—a concept I am no stranger to. Turns out being an early twenty-something pursuing a degree mid-pandemic while also navigating pressures from society on how to navigate relationships, careers, and the future isn’t the simplest task. Hence, is why I decided to give this recipe a go; it seemed just eclectic enough to match my already eclectic life. And, thankfully, being a Centenary student has reinforced the masochistic ideology of taking on tasks that I know will make life harder all to fuel my pride.
Ingredients
Blackberry Scones
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ tablespoon culinary lavender (I searched for 4 hours to find this ingredient. Originally, I went to Whole Foods because surely, they are hipster enough to have it right? Nope, after scurrying around Shreveport for an entire afternoon, I finally found it hidden in a dark corner of the World Market on Youree Drive.)
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup cold, unsalted butter
1 egg
1 ½ cups fresh blackberries
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Lemon Glaze
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400F/200C and line a large baking tray with a silicone mat (or baking paper if you don't own a silicone mat). (I forgot to buy baking paper and definitely don’t own a silicone baking mat, as I am not a soccer mom with three kids. I just put the scones directly on the baking sheet and hoped for the best.)
2. Whisk all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and lavender together in a large bowl. Grate butter with a cheese grater and add to the flour mixture. (This may come as a shock, but I also didn’t have a large bowl, whisk, or grater. I had to grate the butter and zest the lemon by hand with a dull kitchen knife that I bought at Walmart three years ago before I started college. Then, I whisked together all the ingredients together with a fork in a large pot that I typically use to make and heat soup.)
3. Use your hands to rub the butter and flour mixture together until it resembles breadcrumbs or a coarse flour like almond flour.
4. Combine heavy cream and egg in a bowl and whisk together.
5. Add to the flour and butter mixture and use a knife to gently cut the batter to mix it together. (This step was the most confusing to me personally. Why a knife? I looked it up, and it was to prevent overmixing. So even though it feels stupid, just do it.)
6. Gently use a spatula to fold in the blackberries until the dough is well combined but be careful not to overmix the dough. (At this point, your dough is going to look like human flesh in the most horrific way. That means you did it right.)
7. Turn the dough onto your silicone mat, and shape it into a round, 8"/20cm disc. The dough should be around 1.5"/4cm thick. (Again, I have no silicone mat, so I put a little flour down and slapped the dough onto the middle of my kitchen counter. It worked out just fine.)
8. Cut the dough into 8 equal-sized triangles and gently pull them apart from each other so they don't touch.
9. Brush the triangles with a little bit of heavy cream or milk to help them crisp up.
10. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. They should be starting to lightly brown on the top and cooked in the middle, but still soft. Set aside to cool.
Lemon Glaze: Sift the powdered sugar and combine all the glaze ingredients in a bowl. Stir together until smooth. If the mixture is too runny, add a touch more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a little more milk or lemon juice. Get a spoon and drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones. (I recommend eating them with 2% whole milk in a chilled Winnie the Pooh mug that you’ve had in your dorm since freshmen year.)
Link to the original recipe: https://www.thehomecookskitchen.com/lavender-blackberry-scones/
