One Confession, One Digression, a Haiku and Soursop Coconut Scones

Scones are my super power. 

And with great power comes great responsibility. For one, a person with a super power should use it only for good. So my wielding It as a bribe for doing good in the world of non-profit organizations is justified, right? 

The confession: Take for instance the two years I worked as volunteer coordinator for Kauai Humane Society. Record numbers of volunteers would turn out for mailings if I sweetened the deal with fresh baked scones. 

Proof positive, there are too few bakers in the world, so a flaky pastry warm out of the oven is a much coveted thing. 

In 1985, at Macy’s European Coffee House in Flagstaff, I trained to be an early morning baker with a hippy chic named Sue Bug. Sue was the only employee with a “bug” at the end of her name, the rest of us answered to “bob,” as in Tim Bob, the owner and Lynn Bob, the manager. Friends I still know from that time refer to it as the Macy’s “Bob” era.

It wasn’t long before other people began to notice how my scones were different from those made from the same recipe. At Macy’s in the 80s we measured dry ingredients in giant metallic scoops and our spices, by the handful: x scoops of flour and sugar to x handfuls of cinnamon, cardamom, all spice or what-have-you. 

Another baker working there at the time explained the excellence of my scones according to karma: “You had a grandmother who baked scones for you in a past life.” 

I don’t know about karma or if the size of my hands happened to be the best size for measuring dry ingredients. What I do know is when Sue Bug trained me, she emphasized texture and appearance of the dry ingredients as I added liquid at the end of preparation. This is why the following recipe has no exact measurement for the soursop juice. Because of the humidity of our tropical climate, I can’t count on an exact measure. I begin with a scant ¾ cup of juice and drizzle in according to texture from there.

This is not the Macy’s recipe. The original recipe came from Julia Smith, a lovely Westside kupuna who has since passed, so I’m unable to trace its roots. I’ve been tweaking this recipe for 10 years so feel pretty safe calling it my own. 

At the Café 

Crossed legs, chin on fist

Her gaze studies vacant air

Words collect like dew 

Digression

Location: Sitting at a window in Ha Coffee Bar in Lihue, I sigh with contentment. In five days my 85 year-old mom moves back in with my husband and I. To my left is my friend Lois Ann working on a paper for her teaching program and across from her is Kim, writing a post for her blog. I’ve been writing with these two women for 8 years. Ours is a friendship that grew from our love of story and matured into a hui of respect and mutual support seasoned with laughter. This writing life would be so lonely without them.

Back to the recipe:

I begin with a base that evolves into either date/cherry, date/cranberry, mango/coconut, carrot/walnut and most recently, this soursop/coconut version. I change sugar types according to the texture I seek, and introduce wheat or rice flours on occasion. This recipe is amenable to many types of fresh or dry fruit. Just add fruit to dry ingredients and feel free to switch the liquid according to taste. I use either buttermilk, orange juice or soursop juice. I always prefer something grown close to home and the soursop is 30 feet from my kitchen door. 

Soursop Coconut Scones

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Notes: I use a food processor, but it’s not mandatory. If you don’t have a processor, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it is the texture of gravel. They will still come out flaky and perfect.

I live in a hot climate so always use frozen butter.

Combine:

3 cups flour

½ cup white sugar

1 Tbl. baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Add:

¾ cup frozen unsalted butter

Mix until gravelly.

Transfer from the food processor into a large bowl.

Add:

¾ cup coconut flakes. I prefer the wider ribbons vs. the thin shredded style

2 cups chopped Madjool dates

Add:

½ cup sour cream. Mix in lightly.

Add a scant 3/4 cup liquid, in this case soursop juice. Only add enough to pull dough together. There should be dry ingredients still visible in the dough. Plop spoonfuls of dough on to an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Scones bake faster on the black cookie sheet. If using black, bake 18 minutes; if using aluminum, bake 22 minutes.