A fabulous recipe for fresh strawberry scones made with buttermilk (it helps makes them tender!)and orange zest. Get all my tips for making the best ones and have them ready in under an hour!
I made these for a bridal shower. Which I attended for the first time not long ago. Not knowing what the protocol was or what to expect. So I thought fresh strawberries scream bridal shower in Spring. Who knows.
But I do know about scones, whether they’re savory scones, the best ones made with buttermilk or creamy scones, yep, I can tell you a thing or two.
So let’s talk about these gorgeous fresh strawberry buttermilk scones that I made a while ago, and decided that if I ever do go to a bridal or baby shower, I would certainly bring these to share.
Scones have very simple ingredients, but a few pointers should be followed if you want to achieve soft, tender ones, nicely risen.
My 3 tips for making the best scones:
- Very cold ingredients. I’m not kidding when I say frozen butter, at least very cold. And don’t take the cream half an hour before you start mixing the scones. Butter, cream, milk, they belong in the fridge until you need to scatter and pour them.
- Don’t overwork the dough. It should come together but still have floury patches. You don’t need to work it until it’s smooth, like a pie dough for instance. It is an uneven dough, with dry spots, and that’s good for flakiness later.
- A rather high oven. They need that extra heat (and baking powder) to rise however they can in spite of all that butter and cream. And if by any chance you forgot to turn the oven on before you start with the mixing, please don’t leave the baking sheet with the cut scones waiting on the counter. Put them in the fridge or freezer the ten or fifteen minutes it takes for the oven to reach its temperature.
I love this recipe as it is. It has freshness and depth of flavor. But you can mix and match and come up with other combinations.
Flavor variations:
- Stone fruits and other berries. This would be my first choice if I ever wanted to substitute the strawberries.
- Spices. Mix and match according to the fruit you use. Cinnamon with plums, cardamom with peaches or nectarines, and so on.
- Citrus zest. They pair wonderfully with most fruits. Orange with plums, blackberries, and peaches. Lemon with blueberries and raspberries.
And for a shower, I suggest making 24 smaller scones.
Other recipes you might like:
Cranberry Orange Scones
Parmesan Chive Scones
Orange Cream Mini Scones
Double Cheese Scones
Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it.
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A fabulous recipe for fresh Strawberry Scones made with buttermilk and orange zest. Get all my tips for making the best scones and have them ready in under an hour!
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups (360g) pastry or all purpose flour
- 1 Tbs baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Large pinch of salt
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbs (80g) granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- A few gratings of fresh nutmeg
- 6 oz. (170g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and frozen
- 1 1/2 cups (225g) fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ to ¾ cup buttermilk or milk, cold
- Extra sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF /200ºC.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease the bottom.
- Place flour, baking powder, soda, salt, sugar, nutmeg and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse a few times to mix.
- Scatter cubes of frozen butter on top, and process on low until the mixture is grainy and the butter the size of peas. Don’t over process. (If making by hand use a large bowl and cut the butter with your hands or a pastry cutter. Then follow the recipe below).
- Transfer to a large bowl, add the strawberries and mix lightly with a fork or spatula.
- Add buttermilk all over the flour and fruit mixture, and mix with a spatula or fork until it comes together, but don’t mix too much, or the scones will be tough and flat.
- On a lightly floured surface, transfer the mixture, and with a dough scraper or your hands, pat it together, folding it unto itself, until you have a dough that holds together. It will still be shaggy in places.
- Make a rectangle, cut it in half, and then cut each half into 6 triangles or similar. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, sprinkle the tops with sugar, and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until golden, dry and quite firm. If you need to check, with a fork lift the top of a scone and see if the inside is dry.
- They should be eaten within a few hours of baked, preferably warm.
Notes
My 3 tips for making the best scones:
- Very cold ingredients. I’m not kidding when I say frozen butter, at least very cold. And don’t take the cream half an hour before you start mixing the scones. Butter, cream, milk, they belong in the fridge until you need to scatter and pour them.
- Don’t overwork the dough. It should come together but still have floury patches. You don’t need to work it until it’s smooth, like a pie dough for instance. It is an uneven dough, with dry spots, and that’s good for flakiness later.
- A rather high oven. They need that extra heat (and baking powder) to rise however they can in spite of all that butter and cream. And if by any chance you forgot to turn the oven on before you start with the mixing, please don’t leave the baking sheet with the cut scones waiting on the counter. Put them in the fridge or freezer the ten or fifteen minutes it takes for the oven to reach its temperature.
Freezing scones:
Scones can be frozen raw, already formed. Make a big batch, cut them, put them on trays and freeze them. Once frozen, put them in a plastic bag or container so the tray doesn’t occupy freezer space. Bake them directly from the freezer into a hot oven.
Keywords: strawberry scones, fruit scones
Adapted from Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, by Nancy Silverton
I love that you have a little Irish in you. It shows in these gorgeous scones. How cool your grandfather studied in the States. What an interesting history you have. Yes, there are different types of showers. The ones I've been to have been usually for babies and there was lots of finger food and silly games where you guess the sex of the baby and wrap the mommy's belly with toilet paper…stuff like that!LOL
I love the sound of strawberry buttermilk scones, these look incredible!