Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
3/4 cup small-diced dried strawberries (or raspberries or blackberries or blueberries)
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash
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Directions: |
Directions:Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 4 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.
Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour and butter mixture. Combine until just blended.
Toss the raspberries with 1 tablespoon of flour, add them to the dough, and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.
Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is well combined.
Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough.
Cut into squares with a 4-inch plain or fluted cutter, and then cut them in half diagonally to make triangles.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outsides are crisp and the insides are fully baked. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: 1. For a better rise, use cold butter—or even frozen butter. The colder the better, and that extends beyond just ingredients, too. It's ideal to have a chilled bowl and pastry cutter as well.
2. When it comes to mixing, don't overdo it; mix until the dough just comes together. And although the food processor can help keep the temperature down, it's easy to over-mix, so use a pastry instead, Youngman suggests. "It should look like pancake batter," she says. "Lumps are what you want!"
3. Use pastry flour for the lightest scones. All-purpose plus pastry flour also works, but don't omit the pastry flour.
4. "Once you've shaped your scones, chill them before baking," Youngman says. "You can use that time to preheat the oven so the kitchen doesn't heat up while you make the dough. The final chill relaxes the gluten which yields a tender texture. It also cools the butter down again, which is how you'll get that flaky texture."
5. Spacing: "I usually space the scones about one inch apart if they are separate wedges. Keep 'em cozy," Youngman says. If you're baking round scones, you can try baking them like cinnamon rolls, where they're actually touching, which will give you nice, soft sides.
6. If you're adding fruit, don't use super juicy fruit, and make sure you rinse and dry it well. If you're using frozen fruit, you can don't have to thaw it if the fruit is individually frozen. If the fruit is in one big chunk, however, thaw, rinse and drain it as well as you can.
7. As King Arthur says, "a scone is not a cupcake." Don't overbake them, and remember they are meant for clotted cream, butter, and jam!
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This recipe for Berry Scones is from