Strawberry Scones

I have mixed emotions about pick-your-own farms.  On the one hand, it can be a nice way to entertain the kids for an afternoon while you get to enjoy the outdoors as well as some as-fresh-as-it-gets produce.  On the other hand, you are paying for the privilege of providing the farm with free labor to harvest their fields.  Yesterday, my former opinion won out and the family and I spent the afternoon at a strawberry picking festival at the same farm where we have our CSA membership.  Happily, the farm provided many options in addition to picking, with a petting zoo, bouncy house, pony rides and other kid friendly activities to keep my daughter occupied.  Ever better, for the adults there was a wine tasting hosted by one of New Jersey's wineries, and while the wine was not that good (other than a semi-decent riesling) it provided a nice oasis of civility in what was otherwise a giant mosh pit of strawberry scented children. Even though we never made it out into the picking fields, we still brought home more strawberries to add to those from this week's share.

Its always a treat to wake up to fresh baked....well, anything! My wife is a early riser and will occasionally slip downstairs and have the house smelling fantastic by the time the rest of us wake up.  As a father's day surprise, she wasted no time digging into the pile of strawberries and put together a batch of scones for breakfast. The recipe here my wife learned during her time at the French Culinary Institute (which is why everything is measured by weight).

Share contents used:
Strawberries

Ingredients
325 grams bread flour
20 grams baking powder
45 grams sugar
Pinch of salt
110 grams unsalted butter, cut into cubes, chilled
100 grams fresh strawberries, chopped
1 whole egg plus one egg yolk
100 ml heavy cream

Preparation
Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients until its about the size of dry lentils.  Mix in the 90 grams of the strawberries.

In a large measuring cup, combine the whole egg and yolk.  Place the cream in a blender with remaining 10 grams of strawberries and puree until combined.  Add the strawberry cream to the eggs and lightly beat the mixture until combined. Add the liquid to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until the dough just comes together.  Do not over mix.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter top to a thickness of around 3/4 inches. Cut into triangles (or whatever your desired shape) and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.  Brush the scones with a little cream and lightly sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom and edges.

Happy Father's day to me!