With Valentine's Day fast approaching, everyone is looking for ways to show their love and appreciation to those near and dear to them. In a vast sea of candy hearts, boxed chocolates, glittery pink and red cards, bouquets of flowers and dinner reservations, it can be difficult to come up with an unexpected way to honor the ones we love and make the day a memorable one.
There is perhaps nothing that warms my heart more than breakfast in bed. It doesn't take much more than a little planning along with a few ingredients, but it makes a huge romantic impact at the beginning of the day. It's "good morning, I love you" on a plate. All you need to do is get up a little earlier than normal, brew a pot of coffee or put the tea kettle on and hop into the kitchen to make a sweet little something with your own two hands.
This recipe for strawberry shortcake scones takes a classic Valentine's Day dessert and transforms it into delectable breakfast fare. The scones are tender and buttery, with slices of sweet, red strawberry baked right in. Then, when the scones come out of the oven all fresh and warm, they are dipped into a creamy vanilla glaze that mimics the flavor of the whipped cream in a traditional strawberry shortcake. This recipe makes a dozen scones, so after you and your special someone have enjoyed a few, there are some left over for the kids, the office or the neighbors. Share the love.
Homemade scones straight from the oven are a simple thing of beauty if you follow this one tip: don't overwork the dough. Overworking or kneading the dough will produce a dense, dry scone. Instead, you want the dough to just come together by stirring gently with a spoon then patting it together by hand on the work surface, much like making a flaky buttermilk biscuit.
Strawberry shortcake scones
For scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
10-12 fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
¾ cup half-and-half cream
For vanilla cream glaze:
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons half-and-half cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and cut in the butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles crumbs.
Add the strawberries to the bowl and coat them lightly with the flour mixture.
Add the half-and-half and fold it all together gently until the mixture just begins to come together and forms a soft dough (more cream can be added by the tablespoon if needed to bring the dough together). Do not knead or over mix the dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and gently pat it into a 1-inch thick rectangle.
With a knife, cut the rectangle into 6 even squares, then cut the squares on the diagonal to form 12 triangles.
Place scones on the prepared baking sheet and bake 16-18 minutes, or until scones are cooked through and golden.
Place a sheet of parchment on a work surface, then place a cooling rack over top of parchment. Remove scones from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in another mixing bowl, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and half-and-half until smooth. You want the glaze to be thick but not so thick that it doesn't drizzle off the whisk when lifted. If the glaze is too thick, add more cream by the tablespoon until desired consistency is achieved.
Taking each scone by the bottom, dip them top-side-down directly into the glaze until top is covered. Return scones to cooling rack and allow glaze to drip down the sides and off the rack onto parchment.
Allow the glaze to set up at least 10 minutes before serving. The scones are best served fresh, the same day they are made. Makes a dozen scones.
Maya Evoy lives in Kenai and blogs about food at alaskafromscratch.com. Have a food question or recipe request? Email maya@alaskafromscratch.com and your inquiry may appear in a future column.
Maya Evoy
Alaska From Scratch