Strawberry Scones

I find fresh strawberries to be finicky and hard to execute well in baked goods because of their water content. When strawberries release their liquid during the baking process, the surrounding batter can become tacky and underdone.

For this recipe, I used dried strawberries reconstituted in chamomile tea to preserve the scones’ delicate and fluffy texture. Choosing to reconstitute the strawberries allowed me to have more control over their water content, instead of adding more flour to the dough to overcompensate for the excess liquid. Adding more flour would’ve also increased the amount of work, as that would require changing the ratio of the other ingredients altogether. The slightly chewy texture of the reconstituted strawberries, like that of soft gummy candies, was another added plus! 

The leftover liquid from the reconstituted strawberries also served as a nice base for the glaze. The chamomile’s mild color imparted an endearing mauve color to the glaze. Here, I want to highlight that the use of chamomile should serve as a breaking off point, rather than a point of limitation, for this recipe. I implore anyone making this recipe to massage their intuition and use other teas that pair well with strawberries, such as mint, peach, or black tea. The only limit here is your imagination.

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Strawberry Scones

Course: Dessert

Keyword: scones, Strawberries, Strawberry Scones

Author: Shawn

Ingredients

For the reconstituted strawberries:

• ½ cup dried strawberries
• 2 cups water
• 2 chamomile tea sachets optional

For the scones:

• 2 ¼ cup cake flour see note
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp nutmeg freshly grated preferred
• ½ cup unsalted butter frozen
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream cold, plus extra for brushing scones
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze and assembly:

• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp reserved strawberry tea

Instructions

For the reconstituted strawberries:

• Cut the dried strawberries in half and place them in a large, heatproof bowl.
• Add 2 cups of water to a pot, along with the chamomile tea sachets, and bring to a boil. Allow the tea to boil for 2 minutes then remove the tea bags.
• Pour the tea in the bowl with the dried strawberries and allow them to rehydrate for 15 minutes.

For the scones:

• Make room in your freezer so that a large bowl and full-sheet pan can comfortably fit.
• Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt, and nutmeg.
• Strain the strawberries, reserve the liquid, and gently pat dry the outer surface of the strawberries.
• Add the reconstituted strawberries to the flour mixture, and with very clean hands, toss them with the flour until they are evenly distributed.
• With a box grater, grate the frozen butter into the same bowl. With very clean hands, gently toss the butter and flour together until the butter is just coated with flour. Place the bowl in the freezer.
• Whisk the heavy cream, egg, and vanilla extract together until well incorporated.
• Add the liquids to the dry mix and stir until the liquids have barely soaked into the flour. There will still be pockets of dry flour, but that’s okay– the point is to not overmix!
• Dump the dough onto a clean surface. Fold the dough onto itself a few times to incorporate most of the remaining dry flour, being careful to not overwork the butter.
• Shape the dough into an 8” round disc that is about 1” thick. Cut the round into 8 scones and transfer them onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving them an inch apart. Place the scones in the freezer for 20 minutes.
• Brush the top of the scones with heavy cream. Bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown on top.
• Allow the scones to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then transfer them onto a cooling rack, and let them cool for another 15 minutes.

For the glaze and assembly:

• In a pan over medium heat, toast the almonds until fragrant and have a light golden brown color. Remove from the pan and cool to room temperature.
• Whisk together the powdered sugar and two tablespoons of the reserved strawberry tea. Add about two teaspoons worth of glaze onto each scone and use the back of a spoon to evenly spread the glaze. Then, add the toasted almonds on top before the glaze completely hardens.
• Serve with whipped butter, clotted cream, or any other spread of your choosing.

Notes

I highly recommend using cake flour because of the lower protein content. The lower protein content forms less gluten, which in turn, yields lighter and fluffier scones. Alternatively, you could use all purpose flour instead. However, the scones will turn out slightly more dense because all purpose flour contains a higher percentage of protein relative to cake flour.

Enjoy! <3