Sometimes, I just need a vehicle for eating massive amounts of jam. I think it’s an overarching condiment/spread tendency. I live for condiments. Okay, not so into mayo, but salsas, jams, chutneys, you name it! If I’m eating chips and salsa, I’m looking for the chip with the greatest scooping potential and dipping that chip as far into the bowl as I possibly can. And while I love the soft, buttery biscuit, I’m over the moon to slather it in as much jam as possible. These scones are simply begging to be drowned in jam.
Jams aside, one of the absolute best things about baking scones (and pies and tarts and anything else that combines fruit and butter) is that they are infinitely adaptable. It is a simple formula that changes with the seasons and even works in a kitchen curiously devoid of all-purpose but fully stocked with whole-wheat and cake flour. I tend to stick to the all-purpose, butter, heavy cream method but substitutions can and have been made depending on what my kitchen is stocked with. Fold in some fresh fruit, add some herbs or vanilla or molasses and you have the best darn breakfast. Or enjoy the creamy simplicity of these just the way they are!
cream scones
adapted from Ovenly
2 ½ cups AP flour
1 ½ tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 ½ cups heavy cream
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives or your hands, cut butter into the flour mixture until most of the butter is roughly pea-sized.
- With a wooden spoon, stir in the heavy cream. The dough will be kind of shaggy and shouldn’t come totally together. Dump it all out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Gather all the dough bits into a mound and flatten into a rough rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Fold the rectangle in half. Rotate the dough 90° and flatten again. Repeat this process for a total of 3 turns. Pat the dough out a final time in a circle or rectangle and cut into whatever shape is most exciting to you. I made 9 square scones and a derpy square.
- Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush with a bit of cream sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for about 15-18 minutes on the middle or top rack until scones are a golden brown.
