Weather: 43 and sunny
What I’m listening to: The Album Leaf
Oh heavens. I had to restrain myself from eating three of these. My willpower may have met its match in these spectacular scones.
I had the baking urge. If you like to bake, you know what I’m talking about. And I had a rather lovely box of strawberries needing to be used. Sometimes the best recipes are created when I’m missing an ingredient and need to get creative. I was craving strawberry shortcake, but didn’t have any whipping cream on hand. Then it hit me. Scones are very similar to shortcake. And a creamy, sugary glaze could mimic whipped cream. I hopped up from my seat and headed straight to the kitchen to get to work before the moment passed.
I pulled up a trusty plain cream scone recipe and added a generous amount of quartered fresh strawberries. Then, while the scones were baking, I made a simple creamy glaze with half-and-half, vanilla, and powdered sugar. They smelled so good and looked so beautiful, I couldn’t wait until the glaze firmed up before I dove in. . . and made a mess all over my hands and face. Then, I had another. True story.
Strawberry Shortcake Scones
Basic cream scone recipe adapted from [Smitten Kitchen|http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/dream-a-little-dream-of-scone/]
Yields: 12 scones
- For Strawberry Scones:
- 2c all-purpose flour
- 1T baking powder
- 3T sugar
- 1/2t salt
- 5T chilled butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 12 strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 3/4c half and half cream
- For Glaze:
- 3c powdered sugar
- 1/4c half and half cream
- 1/2t vanilla
Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender until mixture resembles crumbs.
Toss in strawberries and coat lightly with the flour mixture. Add half and half and fold together gently until the mixture just begins to come together and form a soft dough (more cream can be added if needed). Do not knead or over mix the dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 1-inch thick rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 6 squares, then cut the squares on the diagonal to form 12 triangles. Place scones on prepared baking sheet and bake 16-18 minutes, or until scones are cooked through and golden.
Place a sheet of parchment on a work surface, then place a cooling rack over top of parchment. Remove scones from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, vanilla, and half and half until smooth. Glaze too thick? Add more cream by the tablespoon. Too thin? Add more powdered sugar by the 1/4 cup until the desired consistency is achieved.
Taking each scone by the bottom, dip them top side down directly into the glaze until top is covered. Return scones to cooling rack and allow glaze to drip down the sides and off the rack onto parchment. Glaze will firm up when scones are completely cool.
