Sep 22, 2009

Sourdough Scones

Meet Beauregard. Originally from San Francisco, Beauregard ventured to Alaska in 1905 with the J.P. Morgan Company when the company cook (also named Beauregard – confusing in a British novel sort of way, I know) brought it with him to help feed the men building the railroad into the Kennicott copper mine.

Beauregard is a 104 year old sour dough starter.

It has been passed down through miners and restaurant owners to the owners of Sourdough Sunrise Bed & Breakfast in Seward, Alaska. And now, thanks to my boyfriend’s mother who stayed at the B&B and brought some of old Beau back with her, Beauregard has reached the sunny shores of Southern California.

I'll go into the Care and Feeding of sourdough starters later, but for now, check out this scone recipe for the best scones any of us have ever tasted - as stated this morning by everyone at the breakfast table. --AnglophileLV

Sourdough Scones (from Simply Sourdough - The Alaska Way - by Kathy Doogan)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 Tb sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4th tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup currants or dried cranberries
1 egg
3/4 cup sourdough starter
1 Tb milk
2 Tb raw sugar (for topping)


In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Cut in the butter with 2 knives (or a pastry blender- so much easier) until the mix looks like coarse meal. Stir in currants (or cranberries).
Break egg into a 1-cup measure, beat lightly with a fork, then fill the cup with sourdough starter until all of it measures 1 cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix lightly until just combined (do NOT overmix). Turn out onto lightly floured board and gently knead 8-10 times. Dough should be very soft. You can use more flour - but use as little as possible since it's better for the dough to be too wet than too dry (too much flour creates a brick).
Gently pat dough into an 8" diameter circle and cut into 8 wedges. Brush the tops wtih milk and sprinkle with the raw sugar. Transfer wedges to a lightly greased baking sheet - seperating them from eachother by at least 2 inches.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes until golden.

2 comments:

Lady P said...

now, i make some pretty damn good scones over my way, if i do say so myself, but i definitely need to meet that there beauregard!

Pocketmouse said...

are scones always triangular?
I buy some natural fruit and nut scones from Costco (remind me to bring some next time. its only available in the Los Angeles Costco. We are addicted to it over here. Charles got to taste it during the camping trip but I think you missed out, LV) and those are triangular as well.