Chocolate Scones - is this decadent, or what?

As a card-carrying chocoholic, I will attest, these little numbers are too darned good. I ate a whole one plus a little piece of another just after baking. And it took all my will power to stay out of them. My advice: either don't make them at all, or put the leftovers - immediately - into the freezer.

I was putting away recipe clippings the other day, and needed something to fix for DH's Bible study group, and this recipe went into the "try immediately" stack. They came together easily, although I did dirty-up many a bowl getting them ready. I mixed up the dry ingredients the night before. I watched a demo on TV just the other day of a chef mixing in cold butter to flour. You do it by hand, just smashing the little pieces of butter and making those pieces smaller and smaller by sifting the mixture through your hands and pressing. It was fun, actually. Made a bit of a mess of my hands, but so what? Then you add the liquid ingredients (heavy cream and egg yolk), before kneading slightly into a big blob and pressing it out for cutting. I brushed the tops with heavy cream instead of milk, and I sprinkled the tops with just a tad of white sugar too. Were these good? Oh my yes. The recipe is from an issue of Bon Appetit in 2006, I believe, and is credited to The Balmoral Hotel near Edinburgh, Scotland, The Bollinger Bar at Palm Court.

Here are the scones before baking, brushed with cream and sprinkled with granulated sugar.

Chocolate Scones
Recipe: The Bollinger Bar at Palm Court, Balmoral Hotel, Scotland
Servings: 18
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter -- chilled, cut up into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/4 cups heavy cream -- chilled [I had to add about 1 T. more]
1 egg yolk
Milk -- to brush tops, as needed
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until a coarse meal is formed. Or, use your hands to press the butter pieces smaller and smaller until it's a coarse meal.
3. Whisk together the egg yolk and cream in a small bowl, then stir into the flour mixture just enough to blend (do not overmix). Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface, dust your hands lightly with flour and knead dough gently 5 times, just to bring the dough together. Gently press dough into a thick round, then use a 2 1/2" round biscuit cutter to cut out scones. Gather scraps, reform your dough circle and cut remaining scones out.
4. Bake on large baking sheet lined with parchment and brush lightly with a bit of milk. Bake until puffy and dry around the edges, about 18 minutes.
5. Cool on racks slightly.
Serving Ideas: Serve with raspberry jam and clotted cream.
Per Serving: 196 Calories; 12g Fat (53.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 48mg Cholesterol; 122mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
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