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.
Triple Berry Scones Recipe
Makes 8 large scones
Ingredients:
- 2 and 3/4 cups of flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup cold butter
- 1/2 cup white chocolate
- 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries, raspberries, and chopped strawberries
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream plus 2~3 Tablespoons
- Turbinado sugar
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
Grate the butter, then cut into the dry ingredients until most of the butter is pea-sized.
Mix together eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and heavy cream in a separate bowl.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients.
Mix until dough comes together, adding heavy cream or flour in small amounts if needed. Mix in white chocolate and fruit. Don’t over-mix the dough.
Place half of the dough mixture onto a covered, floured baking tray. Press the dough in a flat circle until it is about 6 inches across. Cut the circle into 4 triangles and separate by one inch. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Place scones in the refrigerator for one hour.
Preheat oven to 425.
Pour out 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream into a ramekin or small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush it onto the tops of the scones. Sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar.
Bake 18-20 minutes, or until the edges of the scones start to turn golden brown.
Because of the fresh fruit, these scones do best covered in the refrigerator up to 3-5 days.