Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Strawberry Balsamic Scones



It’s been a while since I’ve offered up a new scone flavor.  This one has been lingering in my mind for a while.  In reading recipes, I’ve seen strawberries and balsamic vinegar mixed in lots of ways.  I make an awesome salad with arugula, strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette among other things.  You can reduce the balsamic down to a syrup and pour it over vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries.  You can do the same but over French toast or pancakes.  Believe it or not, I haven’t made strawberries scones before and I thought I would amp them up right from the start by incorporating this popular flavor combination.

So how’d it go?  Uh yeah…it was hard to stop eating them.  Sweet and savory at the same time, they really just hit the spot whether you have them with some scrambled eggs for breakfast or just as an afternoon snack.­  My trusty taste testers were a little skeptical, vinegar in a scone?!  Until they tried one and were immediately sold.  The final verdict…really good warm without glaze, but even better at room temperature with glaze.  After all, you know how I feel about glazes.  When I mentioned this recipe to another one of my usual taste testers, he said he needed “a pool of balsamic”, well I didn’t deliver on a pool per se, but I think this glaze will satisfy what he’s looking for.

Get these while they’re hot – meaning make them now, while the strawberries are in season and full of flavor.  I might even push it and make these into the fall, they’re just that good.

Recipe adapted from Strawberry Scones on Annie’s Eats (www.annies-eats.com)

Ingredients

1 large egg
¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt (I used nonfat vanilla)
½ cup milk (I used skim)
1 tsp. orange or lemon zest (I used and recommend lemon)
2 ¼ cups AP Flour (I used half AP flour and half Whole Wheat Pastry flour, hence the darker color – use what you like)
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 ½ cups diced fresh strawberries
¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Balsamic Vinegar – add 1 tsp at a time

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375º.  In a 9”x13” pan, mix the strawberries and balsamic vinegar.


When the oven is hot, roast the strawberries for 10-15 minutes, stirring once after 5 min.  Let cool for about 15 minutes. 

In a small bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and zest until blended, then set aside.

In a large bowl, combined the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the butter pieces to the dry ingredients and cut it into the flour using a pastry blender or two forks (this can also be done in a food processor).

Using a slotted spoon, strain and transfer the strawberries to the flour mixture and gently toss to coat.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until completely combined.

Transfer to a well-floured surface and gently pat into an 8 inch disc.  Cut into 8 wedges and carefully place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Or, if you have a scone pan, just fill each section evenly with dough – it filled my mini-scone pan perfectly (makes 16 small triangles).


Bake in a 425º oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool on wire rack. 

**Note** If the dough looks a little too wet, freeze the shaped scones on/in the pan for 30 minutes and move directly from freezer to oven. You will need to increase the baking time by a few minutes. 

For the glaze, mix all ingredients until desired consistency.  Drizzle over each scone with a spoon, fork, piping bag, or plastic squeeze bottle, whichever method you prefer.  Let set before serving. 



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