My new love affair – Apricot marzipan scones

This has been a hot week around here in Germany – with destructive thunderstorms as “side effects” … we could talk about climate change, and a lot could be said about this …  a lot could be said as well about the “side effects” of the Football Worldcup in Brasil. I won’t … where should I start?!

Yes of course, I’ve watched the opening match last night. But I won’t join the chorus of enthusiasm. There won’t be any brazilian recipes, football snacks or the like on this blog. I had thought about it – but it just doesn’t feel right. Anyway, if you’re looking for some football party food you will find some around this blog. I highly recommend f.ex. this party bread –  or what about some goat cheese truffles with walnut and honey?

These scones probably wouldn’t be that inappropriate, too. I made them already a week ago, but when the temperature rose to new hights I thought that no one probably would want to heat up their oven – concluding from myself ;).

And it was so hard for me to hold this recipe back. It’s my new love affair and I’ve baked uncountable batches of these fluffy moist scones (yoghurt is the secret ingredient) since I had bought the Yeo Valley farmhouse cookbook. It had been on my wishlist for quite a while and in a frustrated moment when I had to do something good to myself and happened to stumble upon this book in the bookshop … no hesitating … bought!

Although there are a lot of tempting recipes in this book – beautiful pictures and stories by the way – I only got as far as these scones. I’ve baked them in the original version, but as well in various adaptions. The original recipe uses dried fruit and white chocolate. But it’s summer – and I couldn’t resist to add fresh fruits and berries instead – actually about twice as much as in the cookbook.

Also I found that marzipan – especially with apricots, but with blackberries as well – is a good (more flavourful) alternative to white chocolate. As I increased the amount, I also left out any additional sugar.

As you may see on the pictures – the dough is a bit more difficult to handle when using fresh fruit, but it’s so worth it!

I guess I make my scones a little bit thinner than they usually are. So if you roll out your dough a little bit thicker, the yield will reduce therefore.

Apricot marzipan scones (about 20)
[adapted from a recipe in the “The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook”]

ingredients
220 g flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, pinch of salt, 50 g butter (cold), 100 g marzipan, 150 g apricots (or other fruit or berries), 70 g (greek) joghurt, 1 egg, milk, 2 teaspoons sugar

preparation
Preheat oven to 200°C. In a big bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt. Wash, core and dice apricots. In a measuring jug whisk together yoghurt and eggs. Fill up with milk to 200 ml.
Cut cold butter into small chunks and work into the flour, either with a fork or with a pastry cutter. Add marzipan in flakes torn by hand. Add yoghurt-egg-mixture except for about 1 tablespoon for brushing. Quickly work into a sticky dough. Add apricots.
Dust working surface generously with flour. With floured hands, press dough flat on the surface, about 1 cm (or 2-3) thick. With a cookie cutter (a drinking glass or something similar will do as well) form round shapes (∅ about 5 cm) and line them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush with remaining egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and bake for about 12 min until golden on top. Cool on a rack.