Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Fresh Strawberry Scones

Strawberries are everywhere.  They hit the markets somewhere around February 14, Valentines Day, and continue to increase in volume and drop in price.  The first strawberries that are available sadly are usually flavorless.  So I wait.  Fruit in season is undeniably the best.  That can't be argued with.  In season on the northeastern coast is June and the season is short.  That is depressing.  There is not too much that is in season right now but maybe celery and asparagus.  So Plant City, Florida is not too bad.  It's still in the US and on the east coast.  The weather south is warmer than here, and right now - I am jealous.


Organic strawberries really start showing up in our markets at the end of March.  95% of the time I will seek out organic strawberries and pay the higher price but on occasion I can be lured to the dark side.  Every now and then, price, availability and how much I want need them plays a role.   In general, I think the organic strawberries that are in our grocery store are consistently better than the conventional (why do the ones with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers get to be conventional, I am just saying).  I like the feeling of doing the right thing, so if I have a choice between organic or conventional produce, then I usually choose organic and strawberries are no exception.  I may spend more but if I can encourage change in the markets to provide more affordable, organic produce then it is worth it.  I like the idea of changing the markets by my purchases.  It seems to have more power than voting in this country.  Money talks.  Sad but true.

How do I tell when they are ripe? By smell.  If they don't have a strawberry smell, then that is what they are going to taste like.  They can be the most beautiful, luscious red and be completely tasteless.  When I am choosing my strawberries I look for firm, bright red berries that have a strawberry aroma.  Sometimes you can be fooled by an overripe or mushed strawberry on the bottom so look out for those!

Strawberries are best eaten fresh but I couldn't resist making scones from a few I had leftover.  It can be a bit tricky to work with fruits like strawberries in baking because of the moisture in them.  This recipe took a couple of tries but I am happy with the results.  The scones were crispy around the edges and soft in the center just like a classic scone should be.  There was a nice strawberry flavor but that will depend on how flavorful your strawberries are.
 I used a food processor and pulsed it until I got the right consistency of the dough.
 This is what it looked like when I turned the dough out onto the board.
I patted it out to 3/4 inch thick before cutting it with a knife into triangles.  Of course, you could use a biscuit cutter or pat it into a circle and cut them into larger wedges.
Who could resist a plate of these lovely strawberry scones?  We couldn't.  They were so good, we skipped the usual jam and butter. The few that made it to the next were still crunchy and nice.  That makes me happy.

Fresh Strawberry Scones
makes 12 medium sized scones or 8 large

1 cup (152 g) of strawberries, chopped small in food processor or by hand
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (about a quarter of a lemon)
1 cup (100 g) all purpose flour
1 cup (100 g) white whole wheat flour (can substitute all purpose flour)
1/3 cup (64 g) white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (57 g) of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup (118 ml)of heavy cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

turbinado or raw sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons (14 to 28 g) of melted butter or heavy cream

Topping:
1 cup (130 g) of confectioners sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or cream (alternatively 2-3 tablespoons of crushed strawberries
          strained to get strawberry juice make a nice pink, strawberry flavored icing)
A drop or two of vanilla (for strawberry version use a drop or two of fresh lemon juice)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Process the strawberries, 1 teaspoon and lemon juice of sugar in a food processor until they are chopped small but still have some good size pieces.  (This can be done by hand chopping and then adding the sugar. You can also adjust the sugar a bit if the strawberries are not sweet.)  Set aside.

Mix the cream, egg and vanilla together until well blended

Mix the flours, 1/3 cup of sugar, baking powder, salt into a bowl.  Add the cold butter and cut into the flour until crumbly. 

Quickly mix in the cream mixture and strawberries into the flour mixture until just moistened.  Place dough onto a floured board and knead a couple of times.  The ingredients will incorporate more and the dough will be sticky.  Lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough and shape into a round about 3/4 inch thick and cut into 8 wedges or (as I did) shape the dough into a 9 by 7 inch rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, cut each into 6 squares and then into triangles by cutting from corner to corner.

Place the scones on an ungreased baking pan.  Brush with melted butter or cream and sprinkle with turbinado or raw sugar.  This part is optional but a nice touch!  Bake for 22 minutes and if you are making the larger scones about 24 minutes.  Bake until the edges are golden browned.

Mix the confectionery sugar with milk or strawberry juice until you get a "drizzle" consistency.  It will be thin enough to drizzle but thick enough to stay!  I know you sort of have to be there but you will see what I mean.

Enjoy with sweet butter or strawberry preserves!  I like mine plain, but that is just me.

Print Recipe

Just for fun I juiced a few strawberries and made an icing with it by mixing it with about 1/2 cup of confectioner sugar to 3 to 4 tablespoons of juice. Add the juice until you get a drizzle consistency.  It turn out well and tasted great.  Pink, strawberry scones.  Nice.

14 comments:

  1. I'll take a pink strawberry scone to go with my morning coffee. Looks so delicious. You did a wonderful job with these. Yummy!

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  2. These look incredibly good. I love the pink icing!

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  3. I love strawberry scones! These absolutely lovely!

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  4. That photo of dripping glaze is making me crave a scone this instant!

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  5. Audrey - I find the dripping glaze enticing also!

    Lynne, Abowl, Maris, Pretend - Thank you so much. I hope you give them a try. The pink icing really tasted like strawberry too.

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  6. I live in southwest Florida so we consider Plant City to be local. We are blessed with sweet strawberries all winter in our farmer's markets. Your scones look absolutely heavenly! I only wish that I had one to nibble on as I sipped my green tea!

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  7. I made these today but I ended up with a whole liquid mess instead of the nice doughy texture. 2 cups of flour for 1/2c of milk seems to be the problem. I added more flour but i never got the grainy texture :\

    Then i re-read the recipe and realized that you don't add all the liquid... back to the stove i go!

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  8. Saltsea - I am sorry to hear this. I went back and looked over the recipe to make sure it was clear and correct. When I chopped my strawberries in the food processor, they were still kind of dry, not a puree. There was probably a tablespoon or two of liquid, the additional sugar added to them is mostly to intensify the flavor of the strawberries and draw a little of the juice out of them. The dough should be very tacky, but with a little flour should be easy to pat out. I made these several times and they came out nice and crisp, just like a good scone should. If you make them again, let me know how it turns out.

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  9. mmmm super yummy!!
    i love strawberries, especially fresh ones.
    this looks great.

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  10. What a delicious recipe! Crispy coat and fluffy middle..they are amazing!

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  11. Looks delicious, but unfortunately, I just put mine in the oven and they looked all messy and wet. :-( I double checked the recipe and drained the liquid from the strawberries. I'm a veteran baker so I'm not sure what happened? Perhaps too much cream? Not enough flour? Something else out of whack? :-(

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  12. clueless - I made these scones a couple of times before I posted them and at least once got scones that were too wet. The dough will be sticky but should not be wet. If the strawberries are processed too long or are "softer" to start with could both produce a dough that is too wet. This is an issue with soft fruits and baking with them is that it can be tricky sometimes. It can be a problem also if the dough is overworked because it pushes more moisture out of the berries. It is best to gently pat and not be skimpy with the flour when you are shaping the scones. Note that in the pictures above there was ample flour to pat them out as verses a dusting and I think that helps. You didn't say if they came out of the oven ok or if they were just wet looking just when they went in. Strawberry season is about to be here and I will probably be making these again and possibly update the recipe to include some of the problems that can occur. Because when they are good, they are really GOOD!

    Thank you for coming back and sharing your experience and I hope this helped.

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  13. I just made these yummies! The family loved them. I was careful not to add too much cream mixture and was not afraid to have a good amount of flour on the board. They turned out with a slight crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. Thanks for this recipe!

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