Add 1/2 cup dried currants, dried cranberries, dried cherries, bits of chocolate, or fresh blueberries to create a variety of scones. Yields 8 medium scones.

Heat the oven to 400 F. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix in the orange zest. Add the butter and mix just until coated with flour. The butter chunks should remain fairly large-no less than half their original size. With the mixer set on a slow speed, add 2/3 cup of the buttermilk and mix until just absorbed. Stop mixing when the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Scrape the dough from the bowl and shape it into a ball. With well-floured fingers, pat the dough into a 7-inch-diameter disk. Cut the disk into quarters and then again into eighths. Set the scones on a baking sheet lined with kitchen parchment and brush the tops with the remaining buttermilk. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake until well browned, about 15 to 20 minutes.

My own notes

If you don't have an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, make sure you cut the butter into 1/3-inch cubes. It's a bit of a pain but the first time I made these, the butter cubes weren't small enough so when I baked the scones, the butter leaked out and the scones were very greasy-but I ate them anyway and I still enjoyed them!.

I skip the orange zest because I'm too lazy to zest an orange. But although they're very good plain, they're better with a little something added for flavour. The author-Jacquie Lee, says to add fruit, chocolate chips, etc. After you've cut in the butter but before you add buttermilk. She also says you can use frozen blueberries, just don't defrost them before you add them.

When I made them today, I used 1/2 cup whipping cream mixed with 1/4 cup water, instead of buttermilk. I probably wouldn't do that again because they were almost too rich (but hey, can anything really be *too* rich?)

If you accidentally add all of the buttermilk to the dough, rather than reserving some for brushing, don't worry about it too much. I've done it twice.

The dough will be wet so you may have to knead it a bit with some flour (or add little more before removing it from the bowl). The scones won't rise as much but they'll still be pretty flaky.

Taunton's Fine Cooking--Oct./Nov. 95

Mm-formatted by Petra <phildeb@gmx. Net>