Roasted Strawberry Cream Scones

I am a second generation scone obsessive.  My mother, the queen of scones, has always had an uncanny sense for sleuthing out the best local scones. From fruited to cheesed, griddled to dropped, from sweet to savory, buttermilk to biscuit-like, we have left no scone unturned in our quest for perfection!  This Roasted Strawberry Cream Scone recipe makes a buttery, moist and creamy tasting scone that is so rich and sumptuous you might even forgo the clotted cream, butter and curd in order to gobble up each morsel while they are still warm. This recipe is adapted from James Peterson's Baking.

For those without the benefit of a scone-expert-parent to provide some background, scones come to us from the British Isles, and are a variation of the Scottish word for white bread, 'sconbrot.'  Scones have been an integral part of high tea nibbles and in these instances are often served with clotted cream, butter, jam and or curd.   

Ingredients:

   Roasted strawberries:

• 12 ounces frozen strawberries, chopped into medium sized pieces (approximately 1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

   Scones:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter, frozen briefly (15 min) and thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup roasted strawberries

Steps:

   Roasted Strawberries:

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Mix strawberries with butter, sugar and vanilla extract.  Pour strawberry mixture onto a baking sheet (parchment or a silpat underneath your strawberries will make clean-up much easier).
2. Bake strawberries for 25-30 minutes stirring half-way through.  Keep an eye on the strawberries at the end to keep them from burning.  You want your strawberries to appear slightly shrunken with dried edges (see photo).

   For Scones:

1. Preheat oven to 375.  In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).  Add butter slices, and using a pastry cutter mix the butter into the flour mixture using a chop and push motion. You can also use a food processor or mixer for this step. You are looking for loose sandy clumps of dough about the size of raisins. 
2. Add cream and mix briefly by hand until cream is just incorporated. If the dough does not hold together and there is still loose flour, you can add up to 2 tablespoons of additional cream at this point. It is important to note that you do not want to over-mix the dough, the less you handle it, the more delicate and flaky it will be.
3. Dump your flour mixture onto a floured counter and gently shape the dough into a rough circle, approximately 9 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. The dough will be a craggy mass. With the palm of your hand, press the roasted strawberries into the dough. At this point you can chose to cut your dough into circles or traditional triangles (ours made 8). 
4. Grease your cooking vessel of choice: baking sheet or cast iron pan. Put scones in the oven and turn down the temperature to 350.  Cook for 30-35 minutes, testing for doneness at 30 minutes.  Note, the scones will only be lightly golden, but a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean to indicate they are cooked through. Avoid testing parts of the scones with lots of strawberries as the strawberries will maintain their moisture and give you the incorrect idea that your scones require longer baking time.
5. Remove the scones from the oven, cool 5 minutes, and enjoy!