Ever since I made butternut squash sage scones for my two-and-a-half-year-old last Fall, he has been obsessed. What's not to love about a bunch of butter, cream, squash, sugar, spices and flour smashed together into a toddler-graspable triangle of deliciousness?

Since that first bite, scones officially became his favorite kind of “cake,” and I've been warned it’s what he expects to appear at his birthday party in October.

While he likes all kinds of scones, the classic British type – cake-like and tender, dotted through with cheerful bits of dried currants – are his favorite. They are a bit more refined than the brash American ones that abound and are genteel enough to accept a dab of butter after being split in half. Or, how about some Devon cream - fresh heavy cream cooked down into a thick, heart-stopping goodness. Try some of that on it, will you?

We spent the afternoon recently with our terrific neighbor, Heather (of Jagger Photography). She and her husband are masters of telling stories about families and love and capturing exuberant, light-soaked photos full of color happiness - even here in cloudy Washington. Check them out, you'll be happy you did.

Heather took some awesome photos while we baked and gave me lots of helpful pointers about shooting food. Thanks so much, Heather! One caveat I should mention: Heather had to use my camera with the crappy lens. Boo. We still had fun though. Here's what we made!

Tender Currant Scones

(Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.)

Makes 24.

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons baking powder*
1 scant teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup sugar
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and softened
1 ½ c. dried currants
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
4 large eggs

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Prep two rimmed baking sheets – line with parchment paper. Pulse flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor until combined (6 to 7 pulses). Add butter until fully incorporated (about 25 pulses). Mixture should look like very fine crumbs with no visible butter.

Whisk milk, half-and-half, and eggs together in another bowl. Set aside 4 tablespoons of this liquid mixture. Add remaining liquid to flour mixture and fold together until almost no dry bits of butter remain. (A rubber spatula is perfect for this step.) Fold in the currants.

Transfer dough to a well-floured counter and gather it into a ball. You will notice that it is quite wet and not shaggy like your typical American-type scone dough.

Do not fret! Soft, wet dough is your friend.

Please maintain a cool, British calm. This is exactly how to want the dough to look. Flour your hands well. Knead the dough until the surface is smooth and free of cracks.

Press down gently to form a disk. Flour your rolling pin. Roll your disk out until it is about 1-inch thick. You can roll it out into a very large circle or rectangle, your choice. Just keep the thickness even.Using a floured 2 ½-inch round cutter, stamp out eight rounds at a time. Recoat the cutter with flour if it begins to stick. Push the cutter straight down and don’t twist it when you are pulling it up. Sharp-edged cuts will create taller, more even scones.

Little Scribbler stole a hunk of the dough. Oh well.

Arrange the scones on your prepped sheet.

Here’s a cool thing about this recipe. You can gather whatever scraps are left, roll them out again and stamp out more scones. A second roll does not cause toughness. Don’t re-roll the scraps remaining from the second roll though. These will definitely produce tough little pucks.

Gentle brushing will do. Egg and milk wash gives your finished scones a golden brown sheen.

Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved milk/half-and-half/egg mixture. Turn oven down to 425 degrees and bake the scones until they are risen and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Rotate the sheets halfway between baking for even cooking.

Transfer your scones to a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. Admire their beauty and resist the urge to shove one into your mouth. Serve scones warm or at room temperature. These are delicious split in half and smeared with butter or clotted cream.

You may also freeze any leftovers and reheat them for 15 minutes in a 300-degree oven. But I doubt if you will stop at eating just one.

These are for sharing! Bring some over to the neighbors. Or, have a "cake" party with your favorite toddler at home.

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.

Makes 24 scones.

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons baking powder*

1 scant teaspoon sea salt

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and softened

1 ½ c. dried currants

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup half-and-half

4 large eggs

Instructions

Transfer dough to a well-floured counter and gather it into a ball. You will notice that it is quite wet and not shaggy like your typical American-type scone dough. Flour your hands well. Knead the dough until the surface is smooth, about 30 times. Press down gently to form a disk. Flour your rolling pin. Roll your disk out until it is about 1-inch thick. You can roll it out into a very large circle or rectangle, your choice. Just keep the thickness even.

Using a floured 2 ½-inch round cutter, stamp out eight rounds at a time. Recoat the cutter with flour if it begins to stick. Push the cutter straight down and don’t twist it when you are pulling it up. Sharp-edged cuts will create taller, more even scones.

Arrange the scones on your prepped sheet.

Gather whatever scraps are left, roll them out again and stamp out more scones. A second roll does not cause toughness. .

You may also freeze any leftovers and reheat them for 15 minutes in a 300-degree oven.

* I use non-aluminum Rumsford brand – who wants to eat aluminum? Yuck.