London Calling...

Cherry season is so short, about 3-4 weeks actually, that when I see them starting to appear in the markets I can hardly contain myself.  I go on cherry overload and I know I'm not alone.  I buy bags and bags of them, but then a few days pass and I realize I haven't touched them.  Like most people, I was brought up not to waste food and in professional kitchens, that is a cardinal sin.

There are a couple of pounds of cherries in my fridge and I've eaten my fair share of them as is, but I'd like to actually make something with them!  Hmmmm...  gears turning, little librarian in my head frantically thumbing through cookbooks, whizzing past shelf after shelf on the rolling ladder...

Cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cherry muffins, cherries jubilee, cherry crisp... Cherry ice cream, cherry slushies, cherry lemonade, cherry jam, cherry tart, black forest cake, peach raspberry galette, cherry crostata... 

The cherry recipes are endless and all sound like a great idea, but then it hits me.  The Olympics are in less than a week and in LONDON!  Cherry scones it is!   

I don't own a scone pan, but if you do feel free to break it out.  I simply don't have room for many single purpose items.  The other option with these is to pat the dough out to roughly an inch thick and cut scones from there. Lightly flour the counter,  shape dough into a rectangle, cut into squares and cut squares on the diagonal to form triangles.

However, if you also have little to no counter space scooping may be the way to go.

Put on a pot of tea and pass the clotted cream & jam please...

Cherry Scones
-yields 15 mini scones

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 6 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 4 tbsp whole milk
• 1 lg egg
• 1 1/2 c. cherries, pitted and chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut butter into small pieces and place in freezer. 
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together all dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, egg and sour cream until completely smooth.  Set aside.

Add chilled butter to dry ingredients and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add wet ingredients and pulse until just combined.   Do not overmix!

Remove dough from food processor and put in large bowl.  Add cherries and mix just until incorporated.   Try to be as gentle as possible with this as the cherries will bleed a bit when pressed too much and the dough will become tough if overworked.

Using a medium (3oz) cookie scoop,  scoop out dough and place on baking pan lined with parchment paper.  Very lightly press down the top and sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar. 

Return tray to refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.   Bake for 13 - 15 minutes.