Caramelized Peach and Lavender Scones

This weekend I visited friends and had basically every sunny summery experience that tends to be curiously absent in foggy San Francisco (what's up, Karl?). My friend Caroline kindly lent me her air mattress to crash on, and when we woke up we mozyed over to whole foods and the farmer's market to get ingredients for breakfast.

I think you can tell a lot about a person by the type of eggs they buy. I'm a $3 egg kind of person, but all due respect to those who are $9 egg people. (again, hello SF). You can also tell a lot about a person by the way they like their eggs cooked...mostly I think I just really like runny yolks. But for some, it is strangely accurate.

Anyhow, we ate scrambled eggs with cheese while waiting for the peaches to roast for these scones. I'm not going to say the scones are quick to make, but they are fairly simple, and the complex, flowery, and fruity flavors are well worth the wait. Also, by the time they come out of the oven, you can count elevensies as brunch, breakfast, and lunch.

(P.S. Whole foods sells lavender in a little package for about $3...a price I was happy to pay over the $8 we were quoted at the farmer's market! Again, you can tell a lot about a person by their grocery shopping strategies and habits)

The recipe starts with three peaches, sliced and coated in olive oil and brown sugar. Good things are starting.

Then, butter is rubbed into the dry ingredients. It's my favorite part...get your hands in there! Then come the peaches, soft and caramelized, and buttermilk (or milk curdled with lemon juice, in our case). A gentle stir and slight bit of kneading, and then the dough is ready to form straight on the baking sheet.
This could be the same baking sheet as you used to cook the peaches.
Got that? One baking sheet, one bowl!

The scones are done pretty quickly, in 15 or so minutes, and then a glaze is made with a few leftover caramelized peach slices. These scones rocked my world! They're rich and almost cake-like, not too dry and crumbly, and full of summery peach flavor and sophisticated lavender. It's a treat...treatyoself!

Caramelized Peach and Lavender Scones
Yield: 8 big or 12-16 smaller scones

Ingredients:

• 3 peaches, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon culinary lavender
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes, or grate frozen butter on a box grater for easy handling!
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (or milk with a scant tablespoon of lemon juice)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• milk or cream, for brushing and glazing
• sugar (coarse if you have it), for sprinkling
• 1 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss peaches with olive oil and brown sugar, then spread in a *rimmed* baking sheet or other baking pan with sides. Roast for 35 minutes, stirring halfway through. 
2. Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips (or your usual method) until chunks are about the size of peas. Toss in three quarters of the peach slices and stir to combine.
3. Add buttermilk and vanilla extract, then stir until a soft dough forms. Near the end, reach in the bowl and knead a few times to help incorporate all the dry ingredients. Turn out onto a baking sheet, and either form into two smaller disks or one larger disk. Cut each disk into 6 or 8 slices and separate the scones from each other by pulling the wedges away from the center of the circle.
4. Bake for 12-16 minutes (depending on size), in that same 400 degree oven, until golden brown around the edges. 
5. To make the glaze, mash up the remaining peach slices with a tablespoon or so of milk. Slowly add powdered sugar until the consistency is to your liking, then smother the scones in glaze and chow down!

Recipe from How Sweet It Is.