Happy Valentines Day!
I am going to keep this short, so you can get back to the day’s festivities and spending more time with your loved ones. In this follow post, I am staying with the idea I had introduced in the last post - of bringing you real and multifaceted dishes that bring the spirit of this wonderful day in rich glory. As with the cheesecake, I am taking a classic that is more often than not served sweet and created a more layered flavor profile. This time with scones.
As I said before, I am tired of strawberries. They seem to have become the default for Valentines day and the irony of it is that there are miles away from being in-season and I can’t imagine being delectable! So, I am taking a stand -
I proclaim ‘cranberries’ as the new love berry.
There you have it! That’s the gist of this post.
You can skip to recipe now because that really was the real message of the post. The rest of it well, me chatting on. But, if you have a minute or two more, you can learn more about I chose the combination I did - of cheddar and thyme with the cranberry.
You see I feel the cranberry is very underrated red fruit merely because it’s shining moment has been narrowly aligned to Thanksgiving. Its star rises in October and by Christmas it is mostly out of fashion. By the turn of the year, even grocery stores have forgotten about this abundantly grown and abundantly flavorful (and healthful) berry. It gets renegaded to the frozen aisles buried under… you guessed it, Spring and Summer berries!!! Woe, it be!
So, I am resurrecting its glory in these scones and making it the centerpiece of my day! Now, the thing about them is they are indeed hard to love. There is an acid tartness to them that you either fall head first for, or, decide there are easier fruit to lust after. But, if you look at the whole package and beyond the cutting first taste and look how it melts and loses its hard exterior to become a soft, succulent package with just a little love (and heat), you can truly appreciate it’s worth.
That love in this case, is the right pairing. Cheddar and thyme play the perfect wingmen to this shy star, the fat in the cheese mellowing the tartness and the thyme enhancing the earthiness. It’s a beautiful harmony, a threesome for sure, but this is what hopes are about, aren’t they?! :D
Dollops of clotted cream and some jam and you are in heaven. Have your toughest relationship conversations over a plate of these; you’ll come out smelling of roses!
Cranberry, Cheddar and Thyme Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3T sugar
6T unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 cup frozen cranberries, thawed
1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar
2 tsp thyme leaves
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Cube the butter and rub it into the flour to make a mealy, crumbly mix.
Add the cranberries, cheddar and thyme and gently toss to mix.
Whisk the egg with the milk. Reserve 2 tablespoons or less for the egg wash and pour the rest into the dry mix.
Stir to combine and make a rough dough. It is ok, if it doesn’t all come together.
Dump the mix on to a lightly floured counter and gather into a dough. Knead lightly to make a tight ball of a dough that just holds together without stray crumbs but not worked fuller like pastry dough.
Pat into a disk about an inch think and slice into 8 pieces. Brush the tops with egg wash.
Bake in an oven preheated to 400F for 15 minutes for the scones the rise in height. Then lower the heat to 350F and bake for another 10 minutes until the tops are golden and it cooked through inside - should be firm when touched.
STYLE ME SOME CRAN-LOVE
Since we are talking about the re-branding of cranberries, I would be remiss to not share one of THE most popular FSK recipes. In the 10 years, since I first posted this Cranberry Cake here, it has consistently stayed as a reader favorite! Linked here or click the image (It is a very old one! Perhaps, time for a new shoot given the trend.. I mean why is there a s&p shaker in the background!??)
