I have been on a huge strawberry kick for the past month or so, mainly because they are so cheap here and taste amazing. I had forgotten how good fresh strawberries taste, compared to the ones they sell year round in the US that basically taste like water. These ones only arrived at the grocery store once it started getting warmer, and they smell and taste like when we would go strawberry picking with my Auntie Eileen when we were little. When Jenny was here I decided to attempt making strawberry scones because I was excited to use the American baking powder she brought. Baking here is very hit or miss because all of the ingredients are slightly different, so it is extra exciting when things turn out well. These were great, and unfortunately her and I ate the entire batch on the way to the Canary Islands before I could snap a picture. I made them again last week for my friends, and once again they were devoured. I then passed the recipe to Colette who made them this weekend, and is attempting them with blueberries tonight. The point is, this easy scone recipe is here to stay! If you have ever been turned off by the dryness of scones, these will cause you to reconsider because they are not dry at all, more like muffins inside. Enjoy!
Strawberry Scones adapted from this recipe
(makes 6 large scones or 12 minis)
1 cup strawberries
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons or about 85 grams butter, slightly softened and cubed
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream or cold buttermilk ( I made my own buttermilk using this recipe)
Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit (about 200 Celsius) . Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
Cut strawberries into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle fruit with 1/2 tablespoon sugar; set aside. Be sure to make the pieces small, or they tend to fall out of the dough.
Combine remaining sugar with flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter, using a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut in butter (you may want to use your fingers to be sure butter is evenly mixed into flour). Stir in fruit; then add cream/half-and-half/buttermilk all at once. Use spatula to gently stir dough until it holds together. It will look like a mess and not stick together very well, but once it bakes it all comes together.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times to incorporate dry ingredients. Be gentle so you don’t break up the berries and don’t overwork the dough. Sprinkle dough with flour if it gets sticky.
Press (pat) the dough into a circle 3/4 inch thick. If any berries peek out, push them into dough. Cut circle into 6-8 wedges, then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them. Bake 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with sugar and bake 5-10 more minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown and spring back when you push them. I think that I probably only cooked mine for around 17 minutes total because I didn’t want them too dry. I would recommend sharing these so that you don’t eat an entire batch in a day with your sister like I did, although they were very enjoyable!
"Andando lugares y conociendo gentes" 