Scone tomorrow

Sel de la Terre scones

by Alex Shapiro

noshing & sipping

'Cueing up, July 13 Miscellaneous meat sandwich, July 6 Creamsicle dreamin', June 29 Forbidden Rice, June 22

Every morning around 5 a.m. at Sel de la Terre, a bleary-eyed pastry chef washes his hands and hunkers down to make the scones. First, butter is cut and grated by hand. Then the cream is mixed by hand. Each scone is formed by hand. (Even the cassia cinnamon is dried by hand.) All told, nary a mechanical part will ever touch the product, and this, they say, is the secret to the cakey crumble that makes these scones good enough to write about. Apple-hazelnut, maple-pecan, cassia-chunk, and the obligatory currant scone cost $2.50 each in the restaurant's boulangerie; homemade toppings like orange marmalade, rhubarb jam, and plum or raspberry jellies cost an extra 50 cents; and clotted cream can be made available for the truly hard-core. Sel de la Terre is located at 255 State Street (Long Wharf), in Boston; call (617) 720-1300.

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