Amazon bestselling author Kirsten Weiss writes laugh-out-loud, page-turning mysteries, including the Tea & Tarot cozy series. Her heroine in that series, Abigail Beanblossom, isn’t perfect, but she’s smart, she struggles, and she succeeds. Learn more about Kirsten and her books at her website.
Coconut and Apricot Scones from Beanblossom’s Tea and Tarot!
Beanblossom’s Tea and Tarot is located in San Borromeo, a mythical town just south of Santa Cruz and loosely based on Capitola, CA. When they’re not solving crimes, part-owner Abigail Beanblossom manages the tearoom and Hyperion Night manages the Tarot side of the business. When Abigail’s not mixing up new tea blends, she’s inventing scone recipes.
If you’ve ever stopped in at Beanblossom’s for afternoon tea, you may have had a scone or two. Likely invented in Scotland in the 16th century, scones fall somewhere between a biscuit and a cookie. Only slightly sweet, they’re designed to complement a good jam, lemon curd, or clotted cream. And because of their mild flavor, they’re the perfect accompaniment to tea, as the Duchess of Bedford discovered in the 19th century. She loved the combination of afternoon tea and scones so much, she introduced the pairing to her wealthy friends.
If you’d like to try baking scones yourself, here’s a simple and delicious recipe:
Apricot and Coconut Scones
Ingredients:
3-3/4 C bread flour*
1/4 C sugar
3 T baking powder
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
8 T cold unsalted butter
2 C shredded coconut
1 C chopped dried apricots
1-1/4 C milk
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut butter into cubes and mix into the flour mixture with your fingers, crushing the butter, until the mix is coarse and sandy.
If you’re using almond extract, mix it into the milk. Add the milk and almond extract mixture to the dry mix and stir until almost combined. Add shredded coconut and chopped dried apricots. You may need to add extra milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the mix is incorporated.
Knead dough in the bowl. Roll out to 1” thickness. Cut circles 2-1/2” in diameter, or cut into triangular wedges -1/2 inches at the base.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet until light golden brown. Circles take approximately 15 minutes. Triangles will usually take 20-25 minutes.
* You can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, and it will give the scones a denser, more cookie-like texture. Bread flour will “lighten” up the scones, so they’re a bit more like biscuits (but not—they’re still scones).
A Tea and Tarot Mystery, Book 4
It’s Halloween season in small town San Borromeo, and Abigail and Hyperion are determined to make Beanblossom’s Tea & Tarot spooktacular. But when Hyperion’s boyfriend, Detective Tony Chase, is arrested at Beanblossom’s for murder, the duo is certain someone’s playing a nasty trick. And when the official investigation turns into a witch hunt, the stakes to unearth the truth are raised…
But a clever killer has plans to squash their investigation… and the two amateur detectives. If they don’t solve this puzzle—and fast—it will be out of the cauldron and into the fire for them both.
Tearoom recipes included.
Buy Link (preorder now/available 8/31/21)
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