Prune & Caraway Scone/Behind the Scenes at the Made By Hand Shoot —MAV


It’s week two of our dispatch about Lena Corwin’s new book, Made By Hand (pssst — you can order the book now in our shop, with our own 3191 goodies included in your package, right here!). We photographed the book and we are loving sharing our “behind-the-scenes” details with you!

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Stephanie and I have done enough photo shoots to know that one of the most important things to have in place to support a good day of work is LUNCH! It sounds silly but it is something we firmly believe in. Whenever our team is going to be working on location on a project for a full day, let alone a week of full days, my first point of organization is around the food. It is something I am pretty much insistent upon.

There is so much waste in photo shoots … so much waste (plates, cups, plastic, paper napkins, etc.) and so many snacks. That’s not how I eat regularly so why in the world would I want to eat that way while trying to be creative? I feel passionately about this point. If you bring on our team, you bring on a promise of less waste and more warm, nourishing food. I love that about us.

For Lena’s project, part of which was photographed at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, I knew right away who I had to call: the fabulous Julia Ziegler-Haynes. A Maine native (hip hip!), Julia just gets it. She single-handedly runs a beautiful supper club called, The Dinner Bell, and doesn’t usually cater unless it’s something she’s really feeling. I was glad that my friend was into our project. She said YES from the very beginning (I love it when that happens).

I asked Julia to create a week of homemade breakfasts, warm lunches and reasonable snacks, all on a tight budget. She dove in and what she came up with was just incredible. The entire team absolutely loved taking an hour-long, mid-day, break to sit together and share warm food. The food itself was so nourishing and meaningfully prepared. Julia is just so good at bringing people together. I felt she knew exactly what we would need. She kept it simple and she made it happen.

She used “real” plates, napkins and glassware … she created a seasonally appropriate menu … she busted her ass coming in and out of the space a few times a day with warm, gorgeous, homemade food.

Julia’s food truly was a very important part of our week (and something everyone talked about afterward) and I am still so thankful for it (love ya, girl). You can read more about Julia on Refinery 29 and sign up for her mailing list, so you can attend a Dinner Bell yourself, by clicking on “Join Us” right here.

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Today, Julia shares with us a recipe from the book photo shoot week. Yeah! One of my favorite things from the week was, of course, a baked good. These caraway scones were AMAZING. Make them right away! We will be baking our own batches very soon … enjoy! Big thanks to Julia, when can we work together again? xox … And big thanks to Lena who agreed to let us have our way and indulge in these big on-set lunches! Lena, when can we work together again? xox

Prune and Caraway Scone
makes 16 scones

This scone recipe is based off an old Martha Stewart standby (that originally calls for golden raisins and fennel seeds), that I have adapted to suit many needs over the years. You can throw any old mix of dried fruit and spice or nuts of your choice and it really holds up. My interpretation here utilizes caraway seeds and pitted prunes. They are so versatile, eaten warm with honeyed butter or alongside a beefy stew. They walk that line between savory and sweet very seductively, if I do say so myself. Also, what I love about them is once you get to the step where you pop them in the freezer, they can hang out there for up to a month (in a ziploc)  so any time you are craving a fresh baked scone, all you really need to do is preheat your oven. –JZH

2T caraway seeds (plus a couple pinches more for sprinkling on top)
4 C unbleached flour
2 T baking powder
1 T sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and diced
2 C coarsely chopped prunes
1/2 C + 1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 C heavy cream
1 egg

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the diced butter and using your fingers, pinch the pieces into the flour mixture until you are left with a crumb-like mixture with some larger butter chunks still remaining.  Add the prunes and the caraway. The prunes will often be so moist that they clump together, just separate them by tossing them in the flour mixture with your hands. Pour in the wet ingredients and stir to incorporate, just until dough starts to come together. Turn out dough onto lightly floured parchment sheet. With lightly floured hands, start to press down and out on dough, forming a large rectangle, about an inch and a half think. Cut this rectangle in half the short way, and then the long way. You are left with 4 smaller rectangles, which you will then cut into 4 even-sized triangles each. Place these all on a baking sheet lined with parchment and pop into the freezer for at least 2 hours. Meanwhile, beat one egg, and mix with 1 tbs of evoo. Preheat oven to 350. Pull scones from freezer and using a pastry brush, coat the tops with the egg mixture. Sprinkle lightly with the remaining caraway, and sea salt if you please. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Scones are done when they look toasty golden on top.

—MAV