AURORA – Here are two Colorado recipes that just seem to go together, especially during the holiday season. First up are scones just like the ones served for tea under stained glass-topped atrium of Denver’s Brown Palace hotel. Serve these scones warm with the following silky slow-cooked apple butter, or the traditional jam and clotted cream.
The vegan, gluten-free recipe for apple butter comes from chef Deb Brunson at the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Boulder. Made in a slow cooker, this old-fashioned treat is virtually impossible to overcook. For a party gift, pack a dozen scones with a festive jar of apple butter (that will need to be refrigerated).
BROWN PALACE SCONES
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup buttermilk
Optional: 1/2 cup currants or dried blueberries
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix slowly until the butter is pea size. Do not over mix at this stage, the dough will lump up. Slowly add the buttermilk and honey, only to combine. Roll out the dough on a flour surface to about an inch thick. Cut into the desired shape. Pro tip: Freezing before baking makes the scones hold their shape. Sprinkle the top with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Makes about 12 scones.
Slow Cooker Apple Butter
12 to 14 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup sugar (or 2/3 cup Colorado honey)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 cup dry white wine (or substitute apple cider)
Place apples in slow cooker set to low heat. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla and salt and pour over apples. Pour white wine or coder over apples as well. Cover and cook for approximately 15 hours, stirring occasionally over the first hour. This can easily be cooked overnight and all day. Apples will develop a deeper brown color and much richer flavor the longer they cook. As apples become tender, they can simply be whisked into smooth apple butter. Note: For extra flavor, many cooks leave the skins on the apples and remove them after the fruit is cooked. For a pumped-up apple pie, spoon apple butter over cut apples before closing the crust and baking.