michelle rizzolo’s big sur bakery scones + a handy scone guide
Idyllic Big Sur Bakery sits tucked behind a small gas station on a magical stretch of coastal California off Highway 1. Millions of people stop by each year on their drive through redwood groves and wild beaches. Many years ago, I did too and ordered nearly every pastry on the menu. Everything was great, but the scone was transcendent. I’ll never forget eating it—for me, a Proustian moment.
I bought the cookbook for the scone recipe alone and have been making it ever since. Pastry chef Michelle Rizollo’s method is unique in that she makes a shaggy dough that only takes shape when pressed into a cookie cutter. The key is to handle the dough as little as possible. The dough itself has a good amount of vanilla and enough butter and buttermilk to make it tender and craggy all at once. At the bakery, they use whatever fruit is in season. In spring and summer: berries, nectarines, plums, cherries, rhubarb, and peaches. In fall and winter, they often rely on dried fruit and candied ginger, but fresh kumquats, mandarins, apples, pears, and persimmons also work.
Scones are particularly suited to variations, and in general, I use Michelle’s recipe as a template to play around with whatever I have on hand or whatever I dream up at the moment. A couple of weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times published Catalina Flores’ recipe for Sqirl’s sourdough scones which includes a bunch of excellent ideas for variations that match my own approach to Michelle’s scones. I’ve built on that framework to make a sort of choose-your-own-adventure guide to help you riff off the original Big Sur Bakery recipe. The chart below outlines options for fruits, spices, and zests, along with what I’m affectionately calling crunchies, chunkies, and swirlies. When playing around, try to match flavors you think would go well together (like strawberry rhubarb, cherry almond, lemon poppy, pear chocolate) and remember: less is more. And if the chart makes you nervous, stick to the original recipe and just use fruit, with or without candied ginger. Or go wild and try adventurous combinations (like blueberry, turmeric, and orange zest), just be prepared for stuff to get weird. Sometimes, that’s the best part.
Michelle Rizzolo’s Big Sur Bakery Scones + endless variations
Adapted from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook by Michelle (Rizollo) and Philip Wojtowicz and Michael Gilson.
Refer to the chart above for add-in suggestions (the directions below include when and how to add them). The most difficult add-in to work with is the swirlies, so skip it if you don’t want a challenge. Feel free to leave out the fruit altogether or substitute it with a full cup of chopped chunkies. Before starting, please read the entire recipe to plan time for steps that require freezing. While those steps might seem like a pain, making the dough itself is not difficult.
Makes about 10-12 scones.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup fresh, frozen, or dried fruit (roughly chopped if larger than a raspberry)
3 1/2 cups (355 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (198 grams) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
OPTIONAL CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN-ADVENTURE ADD-INS (see chart above):
1 tablespoon spices or crunchies
1 tablespoon citrus zest
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped chunkies
1/4 to 1/2 cup swirlies
METHOD
If using fresh fruit, freeze for at least 2 hours on a parchment-lined baking sheet. This will help the fruit hold its shape and prevent it from staining the dough.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (and spices or crunchies if using). Add cubed butter and toss to coat with the dry ingredients. Place the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes until butter is well-chilled.
Use a pastry cutter to work the chilled ingredients together until the butter is the size of peas (you can also use your fingertips to do this by smooshing the butter into the dry ingredients). Make a well in the center. Combine the vanilla and buttermilk (and zest if using) and pour the mixture into the well. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon to form a shaggy mass. Gently mix in the fruit (and the chunkies or swirlies if using).
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, assemble the scones. Flour a 2.5- to 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter and place it on a corner of the prepared baking sheet. Take a handful or two of scone dough and press it into the cutter, patting it down so the top of the scone is flat. Pull the cutter off the sheet, leaving the puck-like scone behind. Repeat this process across the sheet with the rest of the dough. Wrap the baking sheet with plastic wrap and freeze for at least two hours or preferably overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F. Transfer six frozen scones to a second parchment-lined baking sheet (making sure they have enough space to double in size), liberally sprinkle each scone with turbinado sugar, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown along the sides but still tender inside. Transfer to a cooling rack and let them sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Repeat with remaining scone dough or save to bake off another day. Baked scones are best the day they are made, but well-wrapped, can be frozen for months and gently re-warmed in an oven or toaster-oven.
May 16, 2020