Strawberry Scones

Recipe from Vanessa Balchen, Food Blogger
By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach
In Brava magazine, May 2007

“I'm posting a scone recipe monthly. The whole family adores the strawberry scones at Lazy Jane's Cafe and I'm obsessed with recreating them at home,” says Vanessa. This version – her “third iteration,” as she puts it in appropriately geeky terminology – is creatively adapted from Baking With Julia by Julia Child and Dorie Greenspan. “Lazy Jane's scones are denser and toothier. Mine are very light and almost fluffy. I do love the freshness of mine and the strawberriness – I just would like them to be a bit more substantial. And so the quest continues.”

3 cups all purpose, unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks of cold, unsalted butter cut into tiny pieces
1 cup half and half
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
12 frozen strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 425° F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add butter and work it into the flour mixture using your hands. Don't overwork the flour and butter.

Stir yogurt into half and half and add strawberries. Add this to the flour mixture and mix gently to form a dough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter. Pat into a square about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into squares and place on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool for five minutes and then glaze with a mixture of 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a splash of orange juice.