In April of 2013, Rachel Teichman moved to Houston and found most bakeries here dominated by traditional desserts like brownies, cupcakes and cookies.
She decided what the city needed was scones and established The Scone Artist, her at-home scone business in the Meyerland area. Thanks to the Texas Cottage Foods Bill update in 2013, Teichman can legally sell scones from her home.
"I wanted to try and think of a product I could sell from home that would work under the restriction, and basically I don't think the scone has been fully explicated yet in a way that some other baked goods have," Teichman says. "I just always like making them; I like giving tea parties and going to tea parties, and a scone is usually the focal point of both."
She describes the scone as a "blank canvas," in fact, that is the name for one of her art and artist-themed treats. Her background in art allows her to combine specific ingredients to not only make each taste good, but also look beautiful.
"I was trying to think of a name," she says. "I went through different names, rhyming names, alliterative names, and my husband and I always go back and forth to how you pronounce scone. Everyone in America says scone, but apparently in Scotland they say scon. The Scone Artist could really be pronounced The Scon Artist as in the Con Artist, so that's where the name came from. And then actually the art idea came because of the name."
Each of her scones are named after an art movement, work of art or artist. The most popular flavors are the Lichtenstein (mini M&M's and brown sugar), the Oldenburg (cheddar cheese, cream cheese, scallions and nutmeg) and pretty much anything with cranberries.
But those are just for starters. There's also the Pop Art scone made of banana, chocolate chips and Pop Rocks, or a Mixed Media variety with your choice of fruit and candy. There's an Abstract scone with fruit jam and sprinkles, and the Surrealism scone, described as a chocolate chip cookie disguised as a scone. Because van Gogh painted sunflowers, his namesake scone includes sunflower seed butter and chocolate sunflower seeds.
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The menu also includes an option to make your own scone by choosing from a selection of ingredients, such as cookies, herbs, pretzels, cereal and chips. Teichman says she's made on request a Froot Loops scone and one with gummy bears.
One of her most recent creations is the Pollock, which includes blackberries and chocolate chips; she describes it as a "happy accident."
"I figured it would look cool, but I didn't really know, and I made it, and it did look cool, and it did taste good... I needed the blackberry for the color, and you never know when you're working with actual fresh fruit how it's going to work out, but that one worked well," she says.
All of Teichman's scones look like paintings. No, you don't see sunflowers in her van Gogh scone, but it is clear what you are about to eat. Each is tender, soft and melts in your mouth like a fluffy, soft-baked cookie.
"I kind of read a lot about what should be in a scone and played around with different proportions," she says. "They don't have a lot of sugar in them. I played with the butter a little. I tested doing them with milk brushed on top, and I really prefer not. It was really a lot of trial and error. I kind of had my base and then I can mix in X number of mix-ins."
Teichman has her hopes set on expanding her business one day. If she can rent some space, she would like to do bigger events, mail her scones outside of the city and sell her creations in more locations.
But, for now, if you've got a scone craving or need them for an event, you can order the treats by the dozen. Two-inch mini scones cost $15 per dozen, while three-inch junior scones cost $20 per dozen. All orders can be placed online, through email or over the phone at 858-922-0145.
