AJ- Here’s something special for your 4th of July celebration.
I wasn’t sure if I should finish these strawberry filled scones with a lemon glaze or just a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Beth and I agreed, let’s go for both. We were all pleased with the way they look and delighted with the way they taste.
Lemon Poppy Seed Scones with Strawberries and Lemon Cream
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- Grated zest of one lemon
- 8 ounces crème fraiche
- 3 tablespoons superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus additional for dusting
- Juice of ½ lemon, strained
- 1 pint strawberries, hulled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To make the scones, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds and brown sugar in a large bowl. Stir with a wire whisk until well blended. Add the butter and toss with the flour mixture. Rub butter between fingertips until the texture of coarse crumbs. Combine the buttermilk, egg yolks and lemon zest. Pour liquid ingredients over the flour mixture. Blend together with a fork. Transfer the mixture to a work surface. Knead 5 or 6 times to form a ball of dough. Roll out the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Use a 2¼-inch round biscuit cutter to cut scones. Squeeze together the scraps of dough, roll out again and cut additional scones. Arrange the scones on the lined baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake in the preheated oven 12 – 14 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Transfer scones to a cooling rack.
- To make the lemon cream combine the crème fraiche, 2 tablespoons of the superfine sugar and the lemon zest in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. To make a lemon glaze, place the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and whisk in enough of the lemon juice to make it syrupy. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- One hour before assembling, slice the strawberries and toss with the remaining tablespoon of superfine sugar. Set them aside to macerate.
- To assemble, split the scones in half, top each bottom half with an even amount of strawberries then an even amount of the lemon cream. Cover with the top half of the scone, drizzle with the lemon glaze and dust with confectioners’ sugar.