Afternoon Tea w/ Cheese Scones - Mother-Daughter Fun

I am practicing photography again. I once was quite an enthusiast but that was a few lifetimes ago. Then came retirement, my baby going to University, and many years of reflection later I stood up, dusted off, and went back to school. Culinary College to be exact, which was the reason I bought a camera after I received permission from the Chef Instructor to take pictures in class. I reasoned it was the best way to recall all that we made and the method we used and the end results. It worked out in the end. I took terrible pictures, but I was juggling 10-inch chefs knives and molten lava pans while running so the fact I managed to take any pictures was actually amazing.

Today I asked my daughter what she would like to make for the fun, she wanted cheese scones. So that is what we made.

I normally let my daughter find the recipe she wants to make, her little fingers dancing over her iPod keys, so sweet. We discussed her selection and settled on a recipe I had wanted to try by Florence Fabricant. It was for cranberry scones, so we revised it to become cheese. We also used a little more butter than called for and - we made it in a food processor - School....what can I say...I learned a few things.

Ingredients (the first three make the flour self-rising):

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 more teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon more salt
1/4 cup sugar
4-6 ounces of cool butter made into small chunks
1 cup whole milk
1 cup of cheese of choice - we used cheddar

Method:

Place the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the food processor bowl. Pulse to combine. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour in the processor bowl. Pulse in short bursts until it becomes crumbly with lima bean size chunks. Add some flour to the cheese (to prevent clumping later) and add it to the bowl. Pulse a few times to combine. Begin pouring in the milk into the mixture. The mixture will come together. Not too much kneading. Then place the contents onto parchment and shape it into a disk 3/4 inch thick.

Cut out 10-12 scones. Place onto parchment 2 inches apart. Scraps can be carefully shaped and cut for additional scones. We did not use an egg yolk wash, but you can. I was happy with the results regardless.

Heat the oven to 425* and bake the scones for 10-12 minutes.

They were so good I consumed more than one--with butter, I am ashamed.

Here is a picture of my daughter's little scone smile after we were finished. It made me laugh.

I hope you like them.

~ Hugs from Mum