Triple Berry Scones Recipe

Spending the morning picking sun-warmed raspberries and drinking milky black tea in my garden is the perfect way to start a summer day. This morning, I was drinking Forest Berry puerh, a blend of puerh, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries with honeybush, pomegranate arils, apple pieces, raspberry leaves, rose petals, and blue cornflower. It's as pretty as it is delicious, a mouthful of fruity and woodsy flavors.

While sipping and harvesting from the gardens, I thought a scone would pair so well with the morning. Yes, triple berry scones to match the triple berries in my puerh. Luckily, I had some strawberries and blueberries on hand, since I haven't tried growing strawberries yet and the birds seem keen on getting to my blueberries before I do.

Making scones is probably my favorite type of baking. It comes together quickly and makes the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea. I make them ahead of time when guests are coming, and they are always a huge hit.

How to Make the Perfect Scone

I tend to make more of an American scone, which is sweetened and filled with fruit, nuts, chocolate, or other bits. Really, once you have a base scone recipe, which you can use the recipe below for, you can make just about any flavor scone you want. Plum Deluxe has a long list on our blog of different scone recipes to play with.

If you are looking for more of an English scone, try these raisin scones I made a few winters ago.

There are some tips and tricks I've learned over the years of making scones to get the perfect texture. Baking shouldn't be a well-guarded secret, so let me share what I've learned.

The most important rule to making scones is to keep the dough cold. You want to use cold butter and heavy cream and work quickly before the dough gets to room temperature. Then I let the scones rest in the fridge for an hour to chill and meld the flavors. This step isn't necessary if you are in a rush, but I do think it improves the flavor and texture and prevents the scones from spreading in the oven.

The reason you want to keep scone dough cold comes down to the butter. You want the butter and dry ingredients to come together to create pea-sized pieces of butter in your dough. When baking, this creates the little air pockets that give scones its texture. You want to keep the butter in the dough cold until it hits the oven.

Speaking of butter, the best way to work the butter into the dry ingredients that I've found is to use a box grater and grate the cold butter into the flour. Then use a pastry cutter (a worthwhile tool if you bake scones and other pastries often) or two forks to "cut" the butter into the flour, making those pea-sized balls of butter that remain after we add the cold, wet ingredients and mix in our flavorings.

By grating the butter first, cutting the butter into the flour mixture becomes a quick and easy step.

If you are using fruit to flavor your scones, as we are today, fresh and in season is always best. However, if frozen is the best option for you, leave the fruit frozen if you are able to safely chop the larger pieces like strawberries. If using fresh, you don't need to freeze first.

With these tips and tricks up your sleeve, I hope you are able to take the bounty of the season and turn it into mouthwatering scones to pair with your tea.