The first time I saw a scone, I did not like its appearance at all. It looked like a mess, no light texture, no softness..... The first scone I tried was Orange Cranberry Scone in the RLM coffee stand. I was very good! Not too sweet, crumby out side but soft inside. I also loved the Blueberry Scones of Starbucks, and the best scone I've ever had is an English Styled Scones in a breakfast cafe in South Congress.



However, I've never attempted to make scones myself. That is because most of the recipe I see require Buttermilk. Fortunately, I find a really good recipe from a cook book of Trina; and all the ingredients are available at home as well. So I tried and actually fall in love with this scone.



As usual, I make a couple changes to fit my taste. The original recipe names Orange Poppy seed Scones. I replaced the orange juice by the fresh squeezed lemon juice + 1 tea spoon sugar. If you like Orange better than lemon, go ahead and follow the original recipe, which I noted beside. I also reduce the sugar by half and add Raisin to compensate because I try to reduce the sugar in most my recipes as much as possible.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar (the original one asks for 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup whole poppy seeds
1 tea spoon cream of tartar
3/4 tea spoon baking soda
1/2 tea spoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, chilled
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice + 1 tea spoon sugar (instead of 1/4 cup orange juice)
1 whole egg
1/4 tea spoon grated lemon peel (or orange peel)
1/2 cup raisin, deeped into warm water to soften, then drained.
1 egg white
1/2 tea spoon water

Directions:
1) Mix flour + Sugar + poppy + cream of tartar + baking soda + salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
2) Cut in the butter cubes. Then you can either use a pastry blender or beat by electric mixer at lowest speed until the dry mixture is crumby
3) Whisk the lemon juice + 1 tsp. sugar (or orange juice) with egg + lemon (orange) peel and add to the flour mixture. Add raisin. Mix well until dough becomes sticky and looks chewy.
4) Preheat oven 350F. Butter the bottom of the baking sheet. Use hands to shape the dough into heart shape. Brush with a mixture of egg white + water
5) Bake at 375F for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean and the top is light brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack

These scones are just in normal round-shape

These are the heart-shape one. The surface does crack a bit after you bake but still look fine