Café Aroma’s Melt-in-Your-Mouth Scones—Best You’ve Ever Eaten!

Recently on a stay in Idyllwild (the mile-high village in California’s San Jacinto mountains where Gene and I lived for twenty years), my friends and I walked each morning to have breakfast at Café Aroma. Café Aroma seems to be THE gathering place these days, Frank Ferro--the café’s heart and soul--is an inspired chef and charming host. How I wish his establishment had been in place when we were.
First morning with my coffee, I ordered a blueberry scone. First bite, I knew I was in the presence of something extraordinary.
Until now, James Beard’s Cream Biscuits have been—to my taste—the measure of biscuit/scone heaven. Frank’s are better—they crumble on the way to your mouth and in the mouth, they melt, their flavors of butter/flour/fruit in perfect balance. Frank adds dried currants or cranberries or blueberries to the dough. I thought my preference would be blueberries until I ate a currant scone…until I ate one with cranberries.
Café Aroma serves these beauties not with butter but lemon curd, a delightful conceit. Truthfully, being so rich, they need no topping—and I find I can taste the fruit more clearly when plain. But for a special occasion, you can buy a good lemon curd where good preserves are sold (or stand over a double boiler whisking eggs, sugar, and lemon juice for 10 long minutes…).
I asked Frank if he would share his scone recipe and he graciously gave it to me for this page. His amounts, naturally, are industrial strength. I made one-third the recipe, one dozen. Ate two before they cooled (the scones should be served warm, by the way).
Frank calls for an ingredient I was unfamiliar with (Mrs Hattie Childs, my Senior English teacher, would want me to say, ‘with which I was unfamiliar’…), Manufacturing cream. I discovered it’s a commercial product with 40% butterfat…happily it’s available as Trader Joe’s Heavy Cream. Or use your favorite “heavy whipping cream” (probably 36% butterfat) and add an extra ½ tablespoon butter for every 1 cup cream.
I had to bake the scones longer than his recipe…my apartment oven is surely not the equivalent of Frank’s restaurant range. Too, Frank bakes his scones way cooler than any recipe I’ve seen—Beard uses 425 degrees, Myrtle Allen, the maven of Ballymaloe House, uses 400, the incomparable Jim Dodge uses 375 degrees. But I wouldn’t touch it…
I also ended up with more egg mixture than I needed, so I cut down a tad on the cream. And I used my hands rather than a mixer. Easier clean-up.
I will give you Frank’s recipe for Café Aroma verbatim first—you can divide the dough the way he does, using different fruits—then my household adaptation.
Café Aroma’s Scones—makes 36!
6 cups Flour
1/2 tablespoon Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons Baking Powder
1/3 pound Butter
1 cup Curants
3 Eggs
4 cups Manufacturing Cream
Sift flour, salt sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl.Thinly slice butter and add to flour mixture. Mix in Hobart on speed one until butter pieces are about the size of small peas. Currants can be added during this step, but if making other fruit flavors, wait until after eggs and cream are added and you have set aside enough dough for the other flavors. In a metal bowl, whip the eggs and cream together. Slowly add the egg mixture to the flour mixture in the Hobart until a firm dough forms. Using an ice cream scoop, measure out each scone, making sure there are no air bubbles. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and brush with remaining cream/egg mixture. Bake at 300 degrees for 11 minutes then turn pan around and bake for 12 more minutes.
ST’s Café Aroma Scones—makes 12
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cool but not ice cold (or 4-1/2 tablespoons, if using 36% cream)
1/3 cup Zante dried currants or fresh blueberries or fresh cranberries
1 large egg
1-1/4 cups heavy cream, preferably 40% butterfat
Heat the oven to 300 degrees; set the rack in the middle of the oven and use a baking stone if you have one. Line a 14- by 16-inch baking sheet (or 2 smaller sheets) with parchment paper. Sift flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder into a 2-quart mixing bowl—if using kosher salt, add it to the cream instead to dissolve.
Make the dough using the same technique as for short pastry (see the galette, August 12, 2009 entry): Cut in the butter in thin chips. With the tips of your fingers, rub butter and flour together until the butter is in small-pea-sized chunks. In a smaller bowl, with whisk or egg beater, beat the egg and cream together until slightly frothy. Measure out 1¼ cups (reserve the rest) and drizzle over the dough. Use a fork to quickly blend in—about 12 strokes. Add the fruit (using currants, crumble them in to separate) in 3 or 4 strokes.
With a 3-tablespoon-capacity ice cream scoop, measure out dough, smoothing the top, making sure there are no gaps, and place as far apart on the baking sheet as you have room. Brush each all over with the reserved egg mixture. Bake for 15 minutes then turn the pan around and bake another 15 minutes, or until the center is thoroughly baked (only way to find out is to break one in half...then you have to eat it ...pity). Cool on a rack, they will keep at least one day. Warm before serving.
(Incidentally, I find the present crop of Sun-Maid’s “Zante currants” finer quality and more flavorful than I can remember.)
And, oh yes. Is this recipe for high altitude? I neglected to ask, but having baked for decades on the mountain, I'm fairly sure Frank adjusted his recipe for those of us who visit Cafe Aroma for a few days, request the recipe, then go home and bake on the flats.