Roasted strawberries provide lovely flavor and slight color to the scones for our ode to hats.
Roasted Strawberry Scone Hats
Serves: 9
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1⁄2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon cold heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1⁄3 cup Roasted Strawberries (recipe follows)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 1⁄3 cup clotted cream, divided
- Garnish: additional clotted cream, tiny fresh mint leaves, and thinly sliced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Using a fork, stir in 1 cup heavy cream, strawberries, and lemon zest until a shaggy dough begins to come together. Working gently, bring mixture together with hands until a dough forms.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently until smooth by patting dough and folding it in half 4 to 5 times. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to a 1⁄4-inch thickness. Using a 2 3⁄4-inch fluted round cutter dipped in flour, cut 9 scones from dough without twisting cutter. Place scones, evenly spaced, on a prepared baking sheet.
- Reroll dough to a 1⁄2-inch thickness. Using a 1 1⁄2-inch fluted round cutter dipped in flour, cut 9 scones from dough without twisting cutter. Place scones, evenly spaced, on remaining prepared baking sheet.
- Brush tops of scones with remaining 1 tablespoon heavy cream.
- Bake until scones are golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring scones to a wire rack to let cool completely.
- Spoon 1⁄2 tablespoon clotted cream each onto bottoms of smaller scones. Center a smaller scone, clotted cream side down, atop each larger scone, pressing just enough to adhere.
- To make a hatband garnish for scones, place desired amount of remaining clotted cream in a piping bag fitted with a French star tip (Wilton #18) and pipe in a looping fashion around seam of each scone stack. Just before serving, garnish “hatband” joint with mint leaves and sliced strawberries, if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Make-Ahead Tip: Scones can be baked earlier in the day and stored in an airtight container. Scone “hats” can be assembled and piped with “hatbands” within 2 hours of serving and kept in a cool, but not cold, place. Garnish with mint and strawberries just before serving.
Roasted Strawberries
Serves: approximately ⅓ cup
Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved (If strawberries are large, cut into quarters.)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In an 8-inch glass baking dish, toss together strawberries and sugar to combine. Spread strawberries so they are in a single layer.
- Bake until berries are very soft and fragrant, 15 to 20 minutes. Let straw- berries cool to room temperature in dish. Remove strawberries, and roughly chop them. Place on paper towels to remove excess moisture before using.
