When You Have Sour Cream. . .

By which I mean cream that has gone sour, not the thick commercial stuff for baked potatoes.  I buy cream in 2-pint jugs at market, but if I don't have several recipes in a row for it, it can get sour.  I do sometimes freeze the sweet cream in measured amounts for a baking recipe (or nutella!) in order to preserve its sweetness, but soured cream is also excellent in baking. 

What I have found, however, is that its high fat content makes it behave a little differently than buttermilk or regular sour milk.  If I am using soured cream in a recipe that already has oil or butter, I cut it with some milk or yogurt or else the end result will just be too greasy or rich.  Cream biscuits, using cream as the liquid and the fat, are a good application, but you have to adjust the baking powder accordingly (check the back of a teaching cookbook like Joy of Cooking or Mennonite Country Style - it is easy to switch sour milk and sweet milk in recipes).

One of my favorite ways to use soured cream is this scone, pronounced "skahn" by my college friend Jillian, who says it's an old family recipe from the British Isles.  You will see it's a simple recipe, much faster than other quick breads - easy to stir up even if there are bickering children or crying babies in your life right now.

We eat it toasted with butter for breakfast.  On Sunday, there were a few pretty strawberries (not clean socks) on the plate too.  Lovely.

Jillian's Scone
Mix:
4.5 c. flour (I use at least half whole wheat)
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Stir in:
3 c. buttermilk, soured cream, thinned yogurt
2 c. raisins

Spread in two greased and floured bread pans and bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Cool on wire racks.  Slice and serve, or freeze.