Raspberry Drop Scones

I’ve seen the prices in the store, a pint of regular berries costs almost more than buying the plants, and our organic garden produces raspberries that would be out of my price range. Fortunately for me, we do grow them.

If you are blessed with a large patch of raspberries, or are quick enough to gather the wild raspberries (that’s wineberries to some of ya’ll) before the birds devour them, you’ll have extras to freeze and pull out for a taste of summer in winter. Just sprinkle the berries with a little sugar –little, I said – and seal in a Ziploc freezer bag. Sometime this winter, possibly as early as November, you’ll be glad you printed out the recipe below and taped it to the bag of raspberries. (You can use commercially frozen raspberries too – they get even juicier which is great for this recipe.)

Raspberry Drop

Scones

2 cup unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter (you can use margarine too, but it’s less sconey)
¾ cup milk

Aside from “Bake 400F 12-15 min” that’s where the handwritten recipe ends. What it forgets to say is that you should combine the ingredients in the order they’re listed, the way my grandmother taught me to make scones in my great grandmother’s kitchen one time when more family had gathered than expected. When you get to the butter, it’s easier to cut it in with two knives like you do for piecrust. Grandma used her hands.

Add the milk, especially that milk that you think might be going off a bit. If you're tempted to say "Hey, is this still good?" that's scone making milk. For regular scones you stop there and finish by patting the dough into two circles and cutting it into eight wedge shapes to bake; or you could keep going and add about 3 cups thawed-out frozen raspberries and all the juice they made. The juice will turn the scones pink and make the dough too gooey to shape into proper scones. That’s how my grandmother's scone recipe becomes my raspberry drop scones – just spoon about 12 big pink dollops onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.

They're best warm and with tea, a mellow oolong or confident English breakfast. Grandma always liked heavy whipping cream with them too.