Summer announced itself today in the form of hot, humid, heavy air that greeted me as I pushed open the front door with my bike at 8 AM. Although it’s gotten warm, the mornings have still retained a cool freshness that I associate with spring. But today heralds the arrival of summer weather in earnest: the kind of heat that allows for a t-shirt and shorts even at night. The kind that makes you want a cherry-lime popsicle and the smell of hot asphalt and the juice of a ripe peach on your fingers.
I rode my usual route to the beach and climbed down the wooden steps to stand on the rocky sand and look out at the water. A flash of motion caught my eye in my peripheral version, and I looked to the right to see two small deer cavorting at the edge of the water about a quarter of a mile down the beach. I almost laughed; I’d never seen them down by the water, and they looked comically out of place, like a scene from a Disney movie.
As I jogged up the stairs to my bike, I narrowly avoided stepping on a robin’s egg: cracked but just barely, its shell a vivid cerulean that was darker than any robin’s egg I’d seen before and so vibrant as to appear unnatural.
Both things reminded me of these line from Mary Oliver’s poem Mindful:
“Everyday
I see or hear something
that more or less
kills me with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for—
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world—
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy
and acclamation.”
In the interest of filling the day with the small work (cultivating kindness, being curious and quiet and calm, nourishing myself with pleasurable things) in order that I can do the big work (talking, thinking, listening, and learning about all the strife and issues in the world right now—more on that soon), I’m going to do the following:
Listen to “Bed” by SMYL at least three times, and put Paul Simon on when I’m cooking dinner. (Dinner tonight is crispy salmon tacos with cabbage slaw and chipotle yogurt.)
Take a walk in the sunshine and look at the boats bobbing calming in the harbor.
Drink a lot of water. Wish a case of raspberry Spindrift would appear in front of me. Drink more water anyway.
Think about writing a book. But, actually think about it for at least ten minutes. Make a plan. Make time to make a plan.
Bake something I haven’t made in awhile. Enter: cream scones.
Before we go further, let’s quickly talk about the difference between cream scones and butter scones. Cream scones are the traditional British style of scone (meaning, probably, the correct style)—they use heavy cream for the fat, which yields a tender, muffin-like interior. Classic cream scones are light and almost fluffy inside with a softer texture that verges on—but shouldn’t be—cakey.
Butter scones are similar to a biscuit: sturdier, flakier, and richer.
Both styles come in circular and triangular shapes, usually, although you’ll see square ones sometimes. Both should have crackly, craggy tops and golden edges.
While I like them both, my preferred style is something in between the two. The recipe below combines a bit of both, but leans more heavily towards cream scone territory (to me, a butter scone isn’t far enough from a biscuit).
A word on sugar: I use less sugar than most scone recipes you’ll find. This is partly because I don’t like my baked goods too sweet, and partly because you get sweetness from the chocolate chips and the sugared crust.
Chocolate Chip Scones
Makes 12 large scones
3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, cold
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (200g) heavy cream, cold
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
1/3 cup toasted shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)
1 egg, beaten
coarse white sugar, for sprinkling
*I use mini chips because they allow for more chocolate in each bite, and keep the texture more tender. You can also use chopped chocolate.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingertips. Continue until the butter is in small pea-sized chunks—some can be bigger and some can be smaller.
Whisk together the heavy cream, hazelnut oil, and vanilla and pour into the dough. Stir with a fork briefly, then stir in the chocolate and coconut, then use your hands to toss and mix the dough together, gently folding and pressing but not squishing—you want the cream incorporated as best you can (without too many dry spots of flour) while keeping the butter chunks intact.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press the dough into a disc about 2” high. Using a round cutter (or cut into triangles or squares with a sharp knife if you prefer), cut the dough into 12 big circles.
Brush the tops of the scones lightly with the beaten egg, then sprinkle any extra chocolate chips and coarse white sugar over the tops, pressing gently with your fingertips.
Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, or until a deep golden brown on the very edges. (I often freeze the shaped scones on the baking sheet for 10 minutes or so which is a tip I learned a few years ago at King Arthur that greatly helps with the rise! This isn’t mandatory but is helpful. You can also freeze them fully and bake them directly from the freezer if you want to prep them ahead.)
Let cool, then eat!