A Quiet Memorial Day

The majority of our day today was spent relaxing.  Adrienne and Liam took some time to blow up some new inflatables and spend about an hour and a half in the pool.  I'm still waiting for the pool temperature to hit 90 before I go in but I'm a wimp.  :-)

We also spent some of the day discussing houses again.  I'm getting frustrated at the "do nothing" stage we're at and have decided that until we get an offer on this house I'm not going to think about it anymore.  Probably make me a little easier to live with anyway.

As usual, I was the first one up this morning.  I always find it relaxing when I'm the only one up on a weekend to bake something yummy.   This past week I had purchased a large bag of cherries and figured I really should do something with them (other than eat them plain) before they go bad.  (Cherries are yet another thing in this house that I'm the only one that will eat.)  What to do about it?  Bake with them of course!

My first thought was to make some waffles.  That's something I haven't had in a while and sounded good.  But then I thought scones.  Yum.  I did some searching for a fresh cherry scone recipe but couldn't find one.  I ended up modifying this recipe and it turned out perfectly.  I'm hoping to have some cherries left after the rest of the scones are gone so I can make some more.

The other great thing is that if I bake with them, everyone else in the house would have a chance of eating them -- and they are so good for you.  Perfect for my submission for this week's ARF/5-a-Day over at Sweetnick's.

Fresh Cherry Scones

• 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and cut into 8ths
• 2 cups flour, plus more for forming
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture is granular in appearance.
3. Mix the sour cream and egg yolk together.  Make a depression in the dry ingredients and add the liquid mixture and the cherries.  Stir together gently until moistened taking care to handle the dough as little as possible.
4. Dust your work surface with some flour and turn the dough out.  Pat into a 12 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges.  Place the wedges onto a baking sheet with a little room around for expansion.  Sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.
6. Drizzle with a glaze made of 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and milk (enough for desired consistency for drizzling).

Comments

[Cindy]

My sympathies! I hated having our house on the market. Yuk! The scones sound good. I love cherries and bought a big bag the other day. We are hearing about Flathead Cherries that come on the market locally in July, I'm anxious to try them!

[Claire]

The scones look good...minus the cherries! :-) I like to eat fresh cherries just as they are, but for some reason, I'm just not a fan of cherries cooked in desserts!

[jodi]

I'm so jealous I want to go swimming!!! I like the floor plan that is here, where is it? Have you had any bites on your house yet?

[nan]

Looks really good. I made an easy oven pancake w/fresh cherries the other day that was delish. And so easy.
Melt 2T butter in cast-iron pan, add pitted cherries or other fruit (I've used canned peaches and pears, fresh apples, apricot sauce, whatever) and some brown sugar (1-2 T). Add some nutmeg or cinnamon or vanilla or lemon if it seems appropriate. Cook for a few minutes. Separately mix 1/3 c flour, 1/3 c milk, 2 eggs and a bit of sugar (1 or 2 T) and optional flavoring (I sometimes add nutmeg to the pancake and cinnamon to the fruit.) Pour it over the fruit, put the pan in a preheated 400 degree oven and cook about 18 minutes. Don't let it burn. Times and temps vary.

[Alisha]

Thanks for the recipe, Nan. That does look easy and delicious!

[Nora B]

Those scones look utterly delectable. Fresh cherries are not easily found now as winter approaches in Sydney, but perhaps I can substitute it with dried cranberries. Thanks for the recipe!

[Alisha]

Thanks, Nora. And thanks for stopping by! The original recipe used dried cherries so I bet that or the dried cranberries would be delicious!