Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge 6

Historical Food Fortnightly 2016  Challenge 6:

Juicy Fruits

The Challenge: Juicy Fruits
It’s fruits! Do something with fruits. It doesn’t get more simple than that. Bonus points for use of heritage crops and ingredients!

The Recipe: 

FRUIT SCONES

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup raisins or currants
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. grated orange rind
1/2 to 2/3 cup milk (enough to make a soft dough)

Heat oven to 425° (hot). Mix Bisquick, raisins, sugar, orange rind. Stir in milk. Roll dough around on board lightly dusted with Bisquick. Roll into 9″ round. Brush top with milk, sugar. Cut in triangles. Bake about 10 min. on ungreased baking sheet. Serve hot. Makes 12.

22, 23 and 24 of the vintage cookbook: Betty Crocker’s Bisquick Party Book that was published in 1957 by General Mills.  found on recipecurio.com

The date, year and region : 

1957, United States

Bonus: Blueberry Compote

HUCKLEBERRY COMPOTE

Pick over a quart of huckleberries or blueberries, wash them and set over to boil in a porcelain-lined kettle or earthen bowl. Do not add any water to them. Sweeten with half a cup of sugar, and spice with half a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Just before removing from the fire, add a teaspoonful of cornstarch which has been wet with a little cold water. Do this thoroughly in a cup and stir with a teaspoon so as not to have any lumps in it. Pour into a glass bowl. Eat cold.

Aunt Babette's Cook Book: Foreign and domestic receipts for the household: A vaulable collection of receipts and hints for the housewife, many of which are not to be found elsewhere. By "Aunt Babette" Cincinnati: Block Pub. and Print Co. co., c1889

How did you make it?:
Well, it's winter in New England and heritage crops are non-existent at the moment. The hothouse berries offered at the grocery store looked pretty gross and are completely tasteless, and I hate most other fruits, so I went with dried fruit. 

I made the scones almost exactly as the recipe says. I used Aunt Jemima Original Complete Pancake Mix instead of Bisquick. The main ingredients were the same. I loathe raisins and currents so I used Craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries) instead. I served with Smuckers Triple Berry and Honey jam for extra fruit and some whipped cream.

The compote I made without a recipe. I tried to remember this recipe but failed. First I took dried blueberries and soaked them overnight in a bowl to plump them up a bit. 

It worked to a certain extent. Then I let them sit on a paper towel overnight to drain. 

I put the berries, some water and 1/8 c. sugar in a sauce pan and brought to a boil on low heat. 

After most of the water drained off I added in a tablespoon or two of cornstarch to thicken.

How Successful Was It?:

The scones got a little burned on the bottoms. The new oven is much hotter than the old one and I haven't figured out baking times yet. Otherwise they were successful and very tasty.

The compote needed more sugar and less cornstarch. I put it on top of French toast with maple cream and it was fine. 
                                         

Time to Complete: 30 minutes for the scones, 2 days plus a half an hour for the compote

Total Cost:  $4.79 for Craisins, $3.29 for the dried blueberries. Everything else I had on hand.

How Accurate Is It?: Mostly accurate. This wasn't a tough challenge once I decided to make 20th century scones.