The recipe below is
something my mother made on Christmas morning for many years. We have it for breakfast
along with Mexican hot chocolate. My cat café series features a bakery and two fantastic bakers. This cherry scones recipe is mentioned in the second novel, Kisses and
Kittens at the Cat Café.
This
recipe also works well with dried cranberries or currents.
½ cup
dried cherries, cranberries, or currents
apple
juice or grape juice (about ½ cup)
2 cups
flour
¼ cup
sugar
½ tsp
baking soda
2 tsp
baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp
nutmeg
¼ cup cold
butter
1 egg
½ cup
plain yogurt (full-fat preferred)
1 tsp.
lemon or orange zest
- Preheat
oven to 375°.
- Soak
cherries in juice for at least 10 minutes while you mix other ingredients.
- Mix the
flour and ¼ cup of the sugar. Blend in the baking soda, baking powder, salt,
and nutmeg.
- Cut in the
butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture has fine crumbs.
- Stir in
the egg, yogurt, and zest. Drain the cherries or other dried fruit well. Mix
them in.
- Spray a
baking sheet lightly with oil.
- Turn the
dough onto the baking sheet. Pat it down into a 9-inch circle.
- Cut the
dough into 8 wedges. Separate them slightly. You may sprinkle with additional
sugar if you want them to sparkle a bit.
- Bake until
golden and firm, about 20 minutes.
- Serve warm
with butter … or clotted cream, orange marmalade, or jam.
Kittens and Kisses at the Cat Café: A Furrever Friends Sweet #Romance
A single mother with a nine-year-old son. A younger man who has loved her
forever. A box of orphaned kittens. Can they become a family?
Adam has loved Marley a decade, since he was 13, and she was his best friend’s
free-spirited older sister. Now he’s 24, and the five-year age gap isn’t so
serious. But will she ever see him as more than the kid from down the street?
Marley has protected her heart since the father of her child disappeared. Most
men aren’t worth the trouble, and who has the time to date anyway? She’s a
baker at the new Furrever Friends Cat Café, which is still trying to find its
footing. Her nine-year-old son, Brian, loves animals but can’t have any pets as
long as they live with Marley’s allergic mother. And now someone’s posted a
flyer for a singing contest. She gave up that dream long ago, didn’t she?
Adam has always wanted to fight dragons for Marley. When someone drops a box
of week-old kittens at the café, Adam jumps at the chance to be a hero. But caring
for five needy kittens might be tougher than fighting any dragon, especially
when two of them fail to thrive. Can Adam, Marley, and Brian, save the kittens
and become a family?
Excerpt:
Marley
touched the kitten that had orange and white swirls. “Curled up like this, he
looks like a cinnamon bun.”
“Mom,
that one’s a girl.”
“Fine,
she looks like a cinnamon bun.”
“That’s
a good name,” Adam said. “Cinnamon Bun.”
They
looked at him. Did they think it was stupid?
“Come
on,” he said, “Cinnamon Bun is a cute name for a cat, especially one that
turned up at a bakery.” He nudged Brian. “But it’s up to you.”
Brian
gently scooped up the kitten in both hands and held it six inches from his face.
“Cinnamon Bun.” His brows drew together as he studied the sleepy little face.
“She likes it.”
“Excellent,”
Marley said. “I’ll be able to remember this one and recognize her from her
pattern. One down, four to go. Should we keep the bakery theme? We could call
them, let’s see … Brownie, Lemon Bar, Scone, Muffin?”
Brian
scrunched up his nose. “Not Muffin.”
Marley
propped one hand on her hip. “Oh, you’re okay with Lemon Bar and Scone, but you
draw the line at Muffin?”
Brian
giggled. “I didn’t say the other names were okay.” He put Cinnamon Bun back in
the box and studied the other kittens. “Maybe Brownie for this one.” He picked
up the black kitten and gave it the same close scrutiny. “Yes, Brownie.”
Adam
touched a kitten that was mostly black but with a white patch on the back, kind
of like a saddle. He might have suggested an equestrian name, but the baked
goods theme seemed to be working. “This one looks like a chocolate cupcake with
white frosting. How about Cupcake?”
Over
the next few minutes, they settled on Cupcake, along with Sugar Cookie (Sugar
for short) for the white kitten with specks of tan, and Peanut Butter Cookie
(Cookie for short) for the one with a light brown pattern.
“Okay.”
Marley blew out a breath and pushed the curls off her forehead. “We have
Cinnamon Bun, Brownie, Cupcake, Cookie, and Sugar.” She touched each of the
kittens in turn. “I might forget and you’ll have to remind me, okay? I might
accidentally call them Rocky Road and Banana Nut and Croissant. And of course,
Muffin.”
Brian
snickered. “It’s only five kittens, Mom.”
Coffee and Crushes at the Cat Café: A Furrever Friends Sweet Romance
What
do you do when you meet the guy of your dreams? Set him up with your sister, of
course.
Kari
doesn't have time for love when she's opening her new cat café. Renovating an
old restaurant, hiring employees, fighting with the health inspector – oh, and
welcoming 16 shelter cats – keeps her plenty busy. She's doing this for the
cats, the community, and most of all her family. The café will give her sister,
Marley, a job worthy of her baking skills.
Then
a tattooed military vet wanders in claiming to be a master baker himself. The
café doesn't need another baker, but maybe Marley needs a man. Surely she'll
fall for a guy this sweet, this sexy, this tasty.
Colin
has other ideas. It's Kari who makes him want to pour on the sugar and turn up
the heat. But he's spent the last two years recovering from physical and
psychological wounds. Is he really ready for a relationship? He's not even sure
he should commit to Samson, the fluffy marshmallow of a cat who steals his heart.
Get this sweet romance on Amazon, or free with Kindle Unlimited.
Kris
Bock
writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet
Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. In the
Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona.
Get a free cat café novella, mystery stories, and more when you sign up for the
Kris Bock newsletter.
Kris
also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote
the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony
Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a
decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for our romantic comedy newsletter and
get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin. Or find the
books on Amazon US or All E-book retailers.
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