Roasted Strawberry Cornmeal Scones
We made these scones last weekend for Easter brunch, and they tasted like springtime. They're cream scones with a nice delicate texture, and roasting the strawberries first with a little balsamic vinegar concentrates the strawberry flavor.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
ROASTED STRAWBERRY CORNMEAL SCONES
for the roasted strawberries:
- 1 ½ cups hulled strawberries, halved or quartered if large
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 400°. Toss together the strawberries, brown sugar, vinegar, and salt on a baking sheet lined with foil, and roast for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the berries are shrunken and the juices thicken. Make sure you pull them out before the edges of the juices burn.
Leaving behind any excess juices, lay the roasted strawberries individually on a piece of parchment on a plate or baking sheet, and freeze for half an hour or so, until solid.
for the scones:
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (28 grams) cornmeal, medium or fine grind
- 1 tablespoon (12 grams) baking powder
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” pieces
- roasted strawberries, frozen (recipe above)
- 1 cup heavy cream, plus extra for brushing tops
- coarse sugar for sprinkling
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 425°.
Combine flour and cornmeal in the bowl of a food processor, and run for about 10 seconds or so to grind the cornmeal a bit finer. Add the baking powder, sugar, and salt and pulse to mix. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal with tiny pea-sized bits of butter. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
Gently stir in the frozen strawberries, so that they are coated in dry ingredients, then stir in heavy cream. When you’ve mixed it in as best you can with the spatula, go ahead and knead it once or twice in the bowl, to create one mass. Do not worry about getting the dough evenly mixed, but be careful not to overmix.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment and gently roll or press the dough out to a long log, about 3 inches wide and ¾ inch thick. Cut into squares, and then each square in half to make triangular scones. (Alternatively, you can roll out to ¾ of an inch and use a biscuit cutter for round scones.) Place scones on prepared baking sheet, brush the tops with cream, and top generously with coarse sugar.
Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, until well-browned at the edges.
*If you’d like to make these ahead, they freeze well; shape the scones, but don’t top with cream and sugar yet, and freeze them well-wrapped on a baking sheet. You can bake them directly from frozen – just add a couple minutes to the baking time.
Makes 12 medium-sized scones.
