For this month’s “In the Kitchen with,” we decided to focus on baking instead of cooking. This decision made me insanely happy, because I’ve never met a dessert I didn’t love.
West Tisbury resident Mia Esparini, a bookkeeper and IT coordinator at South Mountain Co., is a fabulous baker. “I started enjoying baking in high school,” Esparini said. “After college, I got even more into it. I like to feed people. It’s my love language.”
Esparini had dreams of opening a café and coffee shop when she lived off-Island for a spell. She would have named it the Humble Cookie Co.: “It’s not a dream for me now. I’m very happy where I am — happy that baking is something I can enjoy as a hobby, and not as a job that I could potentially burn out on.”
Baking is a bit of a family affair. Esparini’s 10-year-old daughter, Ada, also caught the baking bug: “She likes to bake without me helping, so it’s 100 percent hers. She takes what she bakes and shares it with neighbors and friends. She really likes to bake cookies, which is what I generally like to bake, as well as scones.“
Did I hear the word “scone”? Scones are one of my all-time favorite treats — tender, flaky interior, golden-brown crust, and rich in flavor. They can be tricky to make, especially if you are making scones for someone who is dairy- and gluten-free, like me, but when a baker finds the perfect balance between biscuit and cake, it’s a win. For our bake, Esparini decided to make lemon poppy seed scones, and suggested that I bake the gluten- and dairy-free version, while she baked a regular batch.
“This is a great recipe, and can easily be made dairy- and gluten-free,” Esparini said. “There’s not a lot of advance prep, and a lot of the time people already have these ingredients in their home.”
This recipe doesn’t call for butter, plant-based or otherwise, but uses cream instead. Esparini explained that the key to a scone’s appeal is in the cold fat (butter or cream) that creates steam pockets. “Grating frozen butter is fiddly, but makes for great, fluffy scones,” she continued. “But this recipe is easy, and has become one of Ada’s favorites, so I make them a lot.”
For my scones, I used a plant-based heavy whipping cream, while Esparini used dairy-based. We stood side by side, measuring and combining our ingredients in separate bowls. We gently mixed and folded the dough — rather than kneaded it — which ensures that the dough doesn’t get too dense and chewy. Next, we cut the dough at a diagonal, making eight triangles, and put the scones in the freezer for 15 minutes. “The fat in the cream will get cold, then when it goes in the oven, the steam will help get a rise,” Esparini explained.
When they came out of the oven, the whole house smelled wonderful. I wanted to eat one immediately, but we still had to glaze them with a sweet, lemony glaze while they were warm. Once cooled, I dug in. Delicious. Tasty. Marvelous. My sugar-baby self was happy. Plus, I got to take the rest of mine home to enjoy later on.
Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
Dough
⅔ cup (132 g) granulated sugar
zest of 2 lemons
2¾ cups (330 g) King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour, or King Arthur gluten-free “measure for measure” flour
1½ Tbsp. (14 g) poppy seeds
2 tsp. baking powder
1tsp. table salt
1½ cups (341 g) heavy whipping cream, or plant-based heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Glaze
1¾ cups (199 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
pinch table salt
2½ Tbsp. (35 g) lemon juice
1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream, or plant-based heavy whipping cream
Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or lightly grease it.
To make the dough:
In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt, and whisk to combine.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the heavy cream and lemon juice. Stir with a flexible rubber spatula until the dough is evenly moistened and holds together when squeezed, with a few bits of dry flour remaining. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and knead just enough to incorporate the dry bits and form a cohesive dough.
Pat the dough into a rectangle about 8 by 6 inches. Cut crosswise into three roughly even rectangles. Stack the rectangles and pat into another 8- by 6-inch rectangle, about ¾ inch thick.
Divide the dough in half lengthwise and then crosswise, yielding four rectangles. Halve each rectangle diagonally to form eight triangles.
Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet. For the best rise, freeze the scones on the baking sheet, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Bake the scones for 25 to 28 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly while you prepare the glaze.
To make the glaze:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Add the lemon juice and cream, and whisk until a thick glaze forms. While the scones are still warm, working one at a time, dip the top of each scone into the glaze to coat thoroughly, allowing any excess glaze to drip back into the bowl. You can also drizzle the glaze with a teaspoon if you want a little less. Return the scones to the baking sheet, and set aside briefly to allow the glaze to set.
Dig in while the scones are still warm. Store any leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.