The Altitude Adjustment Section
As you know, I am a fan of the scone and so I went back to one of Susan Purdy’s tried and true recipes from her fabulous high altitude cookbook Pie in the Sky, and added some new ingredients to make it festive for the holiday season. Here is a recipe for Prune (or dried plums if the word Prune scares you) and Cardamom Scones, the aroma will kill you!
Ingredients
1 cup diced pitted prunes (easy to cut up with lightly oiled scissors)
2 cups A.P. flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground Cardamom
7 tablespoons cold butter cut up
1 large room temp egg
3/4 cup whole milk
Procedure
Preheat oven to 425. Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cardamom into the bowl of your food processor, fitted with the steel blade. Add the cut up butter and pulse till mixture resembles small crumbs. Dump out mixture into a bowl. Add the prunes and toss to coat so they don’t sink. In a small bowl, combine the egg and milk. Make a well in the center of dry mixture and add liquids. Stir everything together with a fork just till dough comes together. It will be sticky — don’t panic!
With floured fingers, pull off 8 lumps of dough each about 2 x 2 1/2 inches and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment. You can leave the dough round or pat into wedge shapes. Brush top of each scone with a little milk and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When done they will turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Call me when they are done!
