My Stepmom grew up on a farm in Southern Indiana and one of the cool things she showed me was how to make proper southern dishes. To bad that was before I took an interest in cooking. I was a teenager! After their divorce I never saw her again and I couldn't figure out how to make some of my favorite dishes she made. Cream Scones became my powdered white whale. I have been trying to get this right for some time now. Lots of recipes online carry the title cream scones but they have way too many ingredients and were missing that simple yumminess I was looking for. I had to go back to experimenting and finally got it after only 15 years!
She would make them on Sunday mornings and serve them with coffee and a rasher of bacon. I love the sweet of the scone with the saltiness of the bacon. Although I like it with just the sugar, I found that its pretty good with preserves or jelly too so I included a strawberry preserve recipe below.
Variation: Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the confectioners sugar to make cinnamon sugar scones.
Strawberry Preserves
2 cups sugar
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1½ pints fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Cook until a small amount of the juice gels on a very cold plate. Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated.
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip cream in bowl on high for about 3 minutes until soft peaks form. remove the stand mixer bowl and add half the flour mixture and fold it into the whipped cream until shaggy, add the remaining flour mixture and fold in just until the dough starts to come together. It will be very flaky and shaggy.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, pat out about an inch thick into a square shape. Diagonally cut into 4 triangles and transfer to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Spread them out at least an inch or two apart. Brush the tops with milk or extra cream.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm with a dusting of confectioners sugar or place on a rack to cool. To dust with confectioners sugar put a couple tablespoons of confectioners sugar in a fine wire strainer/sifter. Holding the strainer about a foot over the scones tap the strainer on the side repeatedly and the sugar will gently fall down onto the scones.
To make the preserves, combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Cook until a small amount of the juice gels on a very cold plate. Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip cream in bowl on high for about 3 minutes until soft peaks form. remove the stand mixer bowl and add half the flour mixture and fold it into the whipped cream until shaggy, add the remaining flour mixture and fold in just until the dough starts to come together. It will be very flaky and shaggy.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, pat out about an inch thick into a square shape. Diagonally cut into 4 triangles and transfer to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Spread them out at least an inch or two apart. Brush the tops with milk or extra cream.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm with a dusting of confectioners sugar or place on a rack to cool. To dust with confectioners sugar put a couple tablespoons of confectioners sugar in a fine wire strainer/sifter. Holding the strainer about a foot over the scones tap the strainer on the side repeatedly and the sugar will gently fall down onto the scones.
To make the preserves, combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Cook until a small amount of the juice gels on a very cold plate. Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated.
