Strawberries and Cream Scones

There are few things I love more than berry picking. The simplicity, the brainless act, the sunshine, and knowing that something fresh and delicious will be forth-coming from the fruit gives me great joy. My kids know that when I get my mind set on going out to the farm, there is very little that can deter me. They also know that I can get greedy with my picking… just one more…ok, just another few…but look at all these…!

Unfortunately my family does not always share my passion for farm-fresh produce or find delight in the drive and the monotony of the task, so after dropping the hubs off at the airport to go to Bali (tough life), I took advantage of the few hours I had before getting kids from school to go to the farm. Look at these beauties.

I knew I would make strawberry shortcake and some strawberry jam, but then Deb Perelman went and posted a photo of her Strawberries and Cream Biscuits on Instagram, and I knew immediately how I needed to use the last of the berries. I made them as a treat for when the hubs returned from his trip, and they did not disappoint. The soft, overripe berries made a perfectly moist scone.

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Strawberries and Cream Scones

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped very ripe strawberries many of my berries were small, so I halved them and quartered the medium ones; further chop larger ones
• 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Pour into a medium/large mixing bowl. Alternatively, in a medium/large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Add butter, either by cutting it in with two knives or a pastry blender, breaking it up until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal with tiny pea-sized bits of butter about.
3. Gently stir in the strawberries, so that they are all coated in the flour mixture. Gently stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula, lifting and turning the ingredients to combine. When you’ve mixed it in as best as you can with the spatula, go ahead and knead it with your hands a few times in the bowl until it all comes together. Do not worry about getting the dough evenly mixed. You do not want to overwork the dough.
4. Generously flour your counter. With as few movements as possible, transfer your dough to the counter, and gently roll with a floured rolling pin or press the dough out to a 3/4-inch thick circle. Using a sharp knife, cut the circle in half, pressing the knife straight down rather than sawing. Then continue to make cuts to form  6 or 8 triangles. Carefully transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between each.
5. Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, until bronzed at the edges and the strawberry juices are trickling out of the biscuits in places. Cool on pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Source: Smitten Kitchen