TWD -- Buttermilk Scones with two changes

We've all done it, I'm sure. Just
when we're ready to stick something in the oven we remember we forgot a key ingredient. In the case of Marion Cunningham's Buttermilk Scones, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment, it was the sugar. The scones (I chose the pinwheel version) were cut, buttered and ready to pop in the oven when I suddenly remembered the sugar that was supposed to go in with the flour and buttermilk. By then it was too late so I decided to see if the sugar would be missed -- it wasn't. I had sprinkled enough sugar on the completed pinwheels that it made no difference whatsoever that there was none in the dough.


Oops, I forgot the sugar when making the dough

I made one other alteration in the recipe. I substituted self-rising flour for the flour, baking powder and salt called for in the recipe. I like scones with made with self-rising flour, a softer flour that makes for a more tender and less dry scone. After tasting the finished product I was glad I had made the substitution. The scones were wonderful and all but melted in your mouth.

But then I tend to like Marion Cunningham's recipes. As the editor of two revised editions of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (a mainstay in my kitchen) I have come to trust Marion. And I love to watch her with Julia on You Tube making the recipes in "Baking with Julia." She's so relaxed, poised and elegant that it's hard to believe that she suffered from agoraphobia. When I learned this fact about her by reading her Wikipedia entry it just made me admire her all the more.

Marion suggested several kinds of fruits to put in the pinwheels but I picked something not on the list -- dates. It was an awesome choice and one I will make again. I liked the dough so well in this recipe that I thought it could be used to make quick cinnamon rolls when there is no time for yeast dough to rise. I served my scones with shepherd's pie, another British favorite in our house.