If you’re not old enough to remember Hanratty’s in Edmonton, then you’re not old enough to remember Edmonton’s golden age of proper English scones.  The lovely lunch spot on Whyte Avenue died in the early 1990s (to then become Sherlock Holmes and now I think some generic Whyte bar) and with it, the delicious tradition of scones with clotted cream — what I had since in Edmonton was always cut with a large amount of whipping cream.  If you’ve never had Devonshire cream, seek it out.  And don’t share.

The scone though, has always remained, and bakeries and coffee shops in all directions offer many varieties.  Usually too large, too sweet and too iced to be considered a proper English scone worthy of high tea.  A scone is more biscuit than pastry.  And thus, a perfect vehicle for post-baked sins in the form of clotted cream and jam or butter.  I understand that biscuits can seem boring on their own.  Without a tea party, traditional scones may be lacking in excitement.  Enter the lemon.

Bon Appetit recently published a recipe for lemon thumbprint scones with raspberry jam, and Mark Bittman recently published a recipe in the New York Times for classic scones.  I married the two and added my own touch:  substituting lemon marmalade for the raspberry preserves to end up with a Triple Lemon Thumbprint Scone.  The triple being a lemon scone with a lemon wash with a lemon thumbprint.  “A modern twist on a classic” I’d say if I was trying to sell it to you.  “Please pass the butter,” if you were over for tea.

Triple Lemon Thumbprint Scones
adapted from Bon Appetit and Mark Bittman

Makes about 8 regular or 16 mini scones.

2 cups all-purpose flour, more as needed
0.5 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar, more for sprinkling
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
0.75 cup heavy cream, more for brushing
2-3 lemons
lemon marmalade, around 0.5 cup or less (depending on size of your thumb, of course)

Heat your oven to 450 degrees.  Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper

Zest lemons until you have 6 teaspoons worth.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder and sugar and then mix with hands to combine. Add 4 teaspoons of zest.  Add the butter and mix with hands, pastry blender or in food processor until coarse crumbs form.

Add the egg and cream to form a slightly sticky dough. If it’s too sticky, add a little flour, but very little; it should still stick a little to your hands.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice.  Press it into a 0.75-inch-thick circle and cut into rounds (large or mini). Put the rounds on baking sheet. Gently reshape the leftover dough and cut again.

Make an indentation in the middle of each scone with your thumb and then place about 1 teaspoon of marmalade into depression.  Whisk about two tablespoons of cream with remaining two teaspoons of zest.  Brush the top of each scone with a bit of the cream mixture and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until golden, about 7 or 8 for minis.  Because it all comes down to the size, watch carefully rather than go by these times.