blissful eats with tina jeffers: Strawberry almond scones

Strawberry season has arrived.  I am lucky enough to have a 4-foot patch of strawberries in my vegetable garden ripe and ready for picking.  There are a few things that I refuse to purchase out of season and strawberries top that list.  In my opinion strawberries that can be shipped across the continent and sit in a refrigerated case for days aren’t worth eating.  Freshly picked strawberries that have ripened on the vine need to be eaten within a day or two but they blow their supermarket counterparts away.  These scones are a great way to highlight their perfumed sweetness, barely sweetened they are the perfect way to start your day.  Scones are best eaten the day they are made, so you can freeze unbaked scones in a single layer and store them in a Ziploc bag for up to two months.  To bake them brush the scones with cream, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.  If strawberries aren’t your thing feel free to change up the fruits and nuts you choose, blueberries, cherries or blackberries would all make great substitutions or try swapping out the almonds for hazelnuts, pistachios or pecans. 

Strawberry almond scones 

Ingredients: 

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 large egg2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour¼ cup natural cane sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 cup toasted sliced almondsturbanido sugar (optional)

 Method: Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the strawberries into a small bowl and pop them into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Whisk together ¾ cup cream, egg and vanilla.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cane sugar, baking powder and salt.  With a pastry blender or two forks, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course sand, with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.  Stir in strawberries and almonds.  With a fork, stir in the cream mixture until just combined. 

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 6-inch circle.  Cut into 8 wedges and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush the tops with 1 tablespoon cream and sprinkle with turbanido sugar, if desired.  Bake until golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through.