Eurika!

This really does remind me of a song my fourth grade classmates composed for their Greek play (sadly when I was not attending their school).

Eurika, eurika! Oh what is the matter with me? Eurika, eurika! (something that rhymes with "me"...)

This song was written for the boy playing Archimedes, and he sang it in the bath tub with a rubber ducky as he realized that the buoyancy of the crown in water or something proved it was fake (I can't remember these things...).

Anyways, it is with these very words on my lips that I write this triumphant post today. For a nonexistent audience, once again, I present...

Scones!!

Yes, this will be my last post about them for a while, I swear. And I will not stop because I am tired of making them. Oh no...

I am stopping because I have had that final "Eurika!" moment. I have found the recipe for Starbucks blueberry scones. Well, not exactly. They are still missing a final something... but for my purposes, it's good enough.

I have only the World Wide Web to thank. So obsessed was I becoming, that I went on to Starbucks.com and found out the ingredients to the blueberry scones. Hence "Oh what is the matter with me?"

The ingredients are as follows:

WHEAT FLOUR (MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), BLUEBERRIES, SUGAR, BUTTERMILK (MILK, CONDENSED SKIM MILK, SALT, BUTTERMILK CULTURE), BUTTER (SWEET CREAM), EGGS, CREAM (CARRAGEENAN, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, POLYSORBATE 80), EGG, VANILLA POWDER (MADAGASCAR VANILLA BEAN, DEXTROSE), BAKING POWDER (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE, STARCH, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), LEMON ZEST (LEMON PEEL, SUGAR, CITRIC ACID), SEA SALT, BAKING SODA.

Now, I don't even really want to know what Mononitrate or Riboflavin are, so the real ingredients are:

Flour
Blueberries
Sugar
Buttermilk
Butter
Eggs
Cream
Vanilla powder
Baking powder
Lemon zest
Sea salt
Baking soda


In that order of amounts, greatest to least. So, all I had left to do was find a recipe. I found a promising-looking Julia Child recipe for Buttermilk Scones, but they were missing eggs, and we all know what happens when you don't put in eggs...

So, it was to my utter delight and surprise when I found this recipe on Oswego Tea in her July 2007 archive.

It was perfect. Except for three things: a) There was no baking soda, but instead 4 teaspoons of baking powder (I ended up adding 1/8 of a teaspoon baking soda, which makes them puff up a considerable amount), b) There was no cream or buttermilk, only milk (which I substituted for buttermilk), c) It wasn't a blueberry scone recipe.

Well, all of these were fine. I made a full recipe, but divided it in half after the dough had come together, and added orange and currants to one batch, then added vanilla, blueberries, and lemon zest to the other. It made four scones each (eight total, if you are, like me, math-challenged).

They hit the spot. I haven't tried an orange-currant one, but the blueberry ones... oh yeahhhhh. Eat it was a short decaf peppermint mocha.

Here's the recipe with my edits:


STARBUCKS BLUEBERRY SCONES

Makes 8 scones

3 cups all purpose flour
Scant 1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 sticks chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup blueberries
1 tb lemon zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk

Oven: 350F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Cut in butter until it is the size of small peas then add the blueberries and lemon zest.

Whisk the egg and milk together with the vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and mix and fold until the dough masses and the flour is absorbed.

Divide the dough in two and shape each into a ball. Pat each one into a 6 to 7 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Roll to approximately 1 1/2 inches thick and cut into whatever size you want. (Note: These almost double in size while baking, so cut them small)

Bake until firm to the touch and slightly golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.

(Note: I got home late after a taxing Beauty and the Beast rehearsal, and didn't want to spend too much time cutting the butter in, so I used a Cuisinart. Just be careful that you don't over-cut the butter.)