Weekly Recipe #69: Berries & Cream Scones

 By Jeanne Foels, Marketing & Outreach Coordinator

This June, I'm celebrating the confluence of National Dairy Month and the spring abundance of berries with these buttery, biscuit-like scones. The recipe is pretty simple, allowing the berries to shine in a creamy setting.

Use whatever combination of berries you like -- are those blackberries at the grocery store calling your name? Did you just pick some tiny strawberries from your garden? Are those raspberries from the farmers market going soft in your fridge? The riper and mushier the berries are, the better -- they'll sort of melt in the batter and ooze out while cooking. Mmm!

The secret to great baked goods is to keep that butter COLD, so that you get flaky layers instead of a tough, homogeneous texture. Make sure your butter is well-chilled, don't worry about mixing the batter too much, and try to use your hands as little as possible so the butter doesn't go soft.

Berries & Cream Scones
Adapted from the Smitten Kitchen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp. butter
1 cup very ripe berries, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder and sugar together. Add butter, either with a pastry blender or by cutting it in with two knives, breaking it up until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal with tiny pea-sized bits of butter about.
3. Gently stir in the strawberries with a spatula, so that they are coated in the flour mixture.
4. Fold in the heavy cream just until it creates one mass -- make sure not to overwork the dough.
5. Generously flour your counter. Transfer your dough to the counter, generously flour the top of the dough and roll or press it to a 3/4-inch thickness with your hands or a rolling pin. Cut into 2 1/2-inch circles with a floured biscuit cutter or top edge of a drinking glass, pressing straight down as you cut. Carefully transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between each.
6. Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, until bronzed at the edges and the berry juices are trickling out of the biscuits in places. Cool on the pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, preferably the same day you make them.