Recipe: Strawberries and cream scones with orange zest
These strawberry and cream scones are perfect for a spring brunch or tea. Debbie Arrington
The recent finale of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” put me in the mood for scones.
As Larry David fans know, scones were a running gag (and sometimes “dry” humor) through several seasons of his show. How would Larry rate these scones? “Prettaaay, prettaaay good!”
Key is the texture. Scones are basically elevated biscuits. (Don’t dare call them “fancy muffins.”) So, the texture should be biscuitlike, not overly crumbly. Handle the dough gently.
Traditional scones are topped with clotted cream and jam. These little gems need no extras; the fruit is baked right in.
Finely chopped peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries or other soft fruit can be substituted for the strawberries. Using a food processor makes incorporating the butter into the flour a snap.
Strawberries and cream scones
Makes about 10 scones
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (divided)
3 tablespoons cold butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup strawberries, hulled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon water
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Pulse briefly to combine.
Cut butter into cubes and add to flour mixture. Pulse a few times to combine.
Lightly beat 1 egg. Stir in cream. Add egg-cream mixture to flour-butter mixture. Pulse briefly to combine. Add orange zest; pulse again.
Fold in chopped strawberries. Pulse briefly to combine.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead gently with floured hands 10 times. Dough will be sticky and soft. Add a tablespoon or more of flour if needed to make it easier to handle.
Cut dough into 3-inch triangles. With a spatula, gently transfer scones onto prepared baking sheet.
In a small bowl, beat remaining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush over top of scones. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over top.
Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden.
Serve warm.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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