Pomegranate and Lemon Scones with Lemon Cream

The pomegranate train is slowing for the season. As winter transitions into spring we do lose some wonderful foods to the bright and sunny season ahead. Pomegranate became one of my favourites to use this past winter. And it became one of my daughter’s favourite fruits next to watermelon. She could eat pomegranate for days. It takes forever 😉

Although getting the seeds out of the pomegranate is a bit of pain, the reward is worth the effort every now and then when a treat is in order. And, pomegranate seeds can hold up pretty good on their own. Thrown on top of yogurt, oatmeal, lamb, salads, etc. they always add a hit of colour and are big on flavour and nutritional value.

For these scones don’t get too fussy about the technique. It took me the longest time to find a scone recipe that I truly loved. I’m happy it’s arrived. Flaky, buttery, and topped with a thick lemon cream?! (That exclamation mark was clearly needed). It’s a perfect base for me to play around with in the future. I’m hoping to find a great savoury flavour soon.

There’s an appropriate amount of cold butter required here. My pro-tip for you is to keep the butter in the freezer and using the large holes of box-like grater, grate it into the batter. Grating the frozen butter shapes it perfectly into pea size and saves time and mess as you won’t have to cut it up and mash into pea size later on.

Recipe Adapted from Alexandra’s Kitchen, adapted from Tartine Bakery

Makes 12-16 scones (depending up your thickness of disks before cutting out scones)

Ingredients:

Scones: 

4 3/4 cups flour (all purpose)
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt (table salt)
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 lemon, zest grated
1 cup plus 1 tbsp cold, unsalted butter (see pro-tip above)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (plus more if needed)
3 tbsp melted butter
sugar for sprinkling (about 3 tbsp in total)

Lemon Cream:

1/2 cup, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup unsalted butter (room temp or from the fridge is fine)
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Scones:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or butter it).

Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add sugar, salt and lemon zest and stir to combine. Grate frozen butter over the dry ingredients (alternatively, cut butter into 1/2″ cubes and using a fork cut butter into dry ingredients with the back of a fork). When you are finished, the butter should be dispersed throughout the flour in approximately pea-sized lumps.

Add the buttermilk all at once along with the pomegranate seeds and mix gently with a wooden spoon until the dough holds together. If the mixture seems dry, add a little bit more buttermilk. (I added 3 more tablespoons of buttermilk.)

Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Divide the dough into two even portions. Using your hands, pat each portion into a circular disk about 1.5″ thick. Brush the top with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar. Using a biscuit cutter or any round cutter, cut each disk into 8 circles, gathering the scraps together to shape another circle unit the batter is used up. (You can also cut the batter into triangles if you don’t have a circular cutter.)

Transfer scones to baking sheet. Bake until the tops of the scones are lightly browned, about 25 to 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven.

Lemon Cream:

Pour water to a depth of about 2 inches into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer.

Combine the lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, butter, sugar, and salt in a stainless steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of a saucepan over, not touching, the water. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will cook the yolks and turn them granular.)

Place the bowl over the saucepan and whisking constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick. This will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool, stirring from time to time to release the heat.

You can use the cream immediately, or pour it into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To use after refrigeration, if necessary, gently heat in a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water until it has softened, whisking constantly.

Serves scones along side lemon cream.

Enjoy!