Strawberries and Cream Scones

1/2 cup strawberries
1 tbsp. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup half-and-half or cream
For glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. liquid from strawberries
2 tsp. half-and-half or cream
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Cut strawberries into quarters/half inch pieces. Place in a bowl and stir in 1 tbsp. of sugar to macerate (draw out the liquid). Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, two butter knives or your fingers. The mixture will be crumbly. In a small measuring cup, stir together the half-and-half or cream and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Alternatively (my preferred method), add all dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until mixture is evenly crumbly. Slowly add the wet ingredients through the food processor chute, pulsing to combine. Pulse just until the dough forms a large ball.

Transfer half the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8-in. circle. Carefully spoon the strawberries onto the dough, leaving the liquid in the bowl. Flatten the rest of the dough into a circle and place it on top of the strawberries. Press down the edges to keep the strawberries from falling out. Fold the dough in half, then mound it into a ball shape. Gently pat it into an 8-in. circle. Cut the circle into 8 even wedges. Place the wedges on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges and bottoms are nicely browned.

While scones bake, add 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 2 tsp. half-and-half or cream to the reserved liquid from the strawberries. Stir until smooth.
 
Let scones cool slightly (about 10 minutes) then drizzle with strawberry glaze.

Serves 8.

Link to printable recipe here.

Tips--When you are spooning the strawberries out of the bowl, push them against the side of the bowl with the spoon to squeeze out any extra liquid.  If the glaze is too thick, add a dash more half-and-half or cream.

Now for the BS.  I wait ALL YEAR for the farm stand down the road to have these strawberries.  This is the first time I've done anything but eat them immediately.  I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!  The liquid from the macerated strawberries makes the prettiest pink glaze.  I can't wait to make these again!

Traditional Cream Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup half-and-half, cream or the whey from your Devonshire cream
Optional glaze: half-and-half or cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper OR a silicone baking mat.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, two butter knives or your fingers. The mixture will be crumbly. In a small measuring cup, stir together the half-and-half or cream and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Alternatively (my preferred method), add all dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until mixture is evenly crumbly. Slowly add the cream through the food processor chute, pulsing to combine.  Pulse just until the dough forms a large ball.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface, knead gently a few times and then pat into an 8-in. circle. Cut the circle into 8 even wedges. Alternately, use a 2 1/2-in. round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into rounds. Re-roll/pat out the scraps as needed. Place the wedges or rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Optional: brush the tops of the scones with a little cream.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until nicely browned. Excellent served warm with Devonshire (clotted) cream and jam, or butter and honey.

Makes 8 wedges or about 10 2 1/2-in. round scones.

Click here for a printable version.

Recipe adapted from https://www.joyofbaking.com/scones.html and https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/dream-a-little-dream-of-scone/

Tips--If at all possible, make Devonshire cream first and use the whey in place of the cream. It is EXCEPTIONAL. Use the food processor to save time and don't feel guilty! Save the knife you use to cut the butter for slicing the dough into wedges. In my experience, salted and unsalted butter are nearly interchangeable, despite what "real" bakers say. Reduce the salt slightly if you use salted butter. 

Now for the BS. There is one food blogger whose BS I will happily read until the end of time, and that is Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. I have her cookbook and I refer to her recipes time and again. It was Deb who recently inspired me to try yet another scone recipe, which she adapted from America's Test Kitchen (who I also adore, especially their show on PBS). I thought, If Deb says it's good, it MUST be good. And it IS good! The primary difference between this recipe and my Perfect Cream Scones recipe is that there is no egg in this recipe. So if you or someone you love has an egg allergy, this is ideal! Also, the traditional recipe bakes at a slightly higher temp for a slightly lower time. These are the absolute best made with the whey left over from making your own Devonshire cream. They work well with regular cream or half-and-half, also. The only difference I note in the finished product is that the Perfect Cream Scones are even lighter and airier. These Traditional Cream Scones are flatter but also have crispier edges and brown really nicely, I assume due to the extra cream. I go back and forth between the two recipes, because I love them both. When I brought both kinds to Tea Friday at the library where I work, my coworkers could really not tell a difference between the two recipes. They just said both are amazing. I agree!

Perfect Cream Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream
Optional glaze: half-and-half or cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper OR a silicone baking mat.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, two butter knives or your fingers. The mixture will be crumbly. In a small measuring cup, stir together the half-and-half or cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Alternatively (my preferred method), add all dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until mixture is evenly crumbly. Slowly add the wet ingredients through the food processor chute, pulsing to combine.  Pulse just until the dough forms a large ball.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface, knead gently a few times and then pat into an 8-in. circle. Cut the circle into 8 even wedges. Alternately, use a 2 1/2-in. round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into rounds. Re-roll/pat out the scraps as needed. Place the wedges or rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Optional: brush the tops of the scones with a little cream.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned. Excellent served warm with Devonshire (clotted) cream and jam, or butter and honey.

Makes 8 wedges or about 10 2 1/2-in. round scones.

Click here for a printable version.

Recipe adapted from https://www.joyofbaking.com/scones.html 

Tips--Use the food processor to save time and don't feel guilty! Save the knife you use to cut the butter for slicing the dough into wedges. In my experience, salted and unsalted butter are nearly interchangeable, despite what "real" bakers say. Reduce the salt slightly if you use salted butter. 

And now for the BS. I have been making scones for YEARS. I have tried dozens of recipes, and this is the one I always come back to. The only real change I made to the original recipe is that I slightly increased the butter. The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup of butter and I don't like having oddball amounts of leftover butter in the fridge, so I rounded it up to 6 tbsp. I also do wedges, not rounds, because it is faster, even if it isn't authentically British. Do what works for you! The cream glaze helps to brown the scones and also makes them prettier, and it adds a little crunch to the edges (which I like), but if you are in a hurry, it's not necessary.  These scones freeze well, if you have extras. Reheat in a toaster oven to make the edges crisp again.