They taste so delicious they defy description – and you could be eating them in 27 minutes flat!
Sometimes baking just looks hard. Scones are a good example. That’s because scones – even though the royal family noshes on them – are quite a rustic pastry. Like Anne Burrell’s Rustic Apple Tart, these don’t look fancy, they just taste fancy. And rustic pastry is the way to make pastry because you get to lose that hard labor but keep all that luscious flavor.
You don’t need to knead anything or flour everything and create all that clean-up. In fact, just patting scone dough into a circle is often the best way to go, especially scones that are just bursting with tart, sweet, delicate, delicious raspberries. And raspberries are just the right fruit for this creamy, buttery scone because this fruit is just tart enough to pair with that ultra-sweet and melting white chocolate. It’s pure delight.
Why Aluminum-Free Baking Powder Will Stop Your Scones Turning Blue…
Working with raspberries means something very important every time you bake: look at your recipe and see if it has baking powder in it. If it has baking powder in it, there’s another step – an important one – that you cannot forget no matter what. I know this from personal experience:
Flashback: I wondered why none of those fierce young, loping cadets grabbed that whole carton of fresh, beautiful raspberries when they stampeded past me to raid the baskets in our “Chopped”-style baking contest that day. As I carried my sparkling prize to my long, lonely pre-floured table, I felt puzzled. Why did they leave this lovely basket of fruit for me, all of these young beautiful cadets who were never nice to me? You get no sympathy in cooking school for being slower, fatter, or older. If you can’t stand the heat and all … you’re welcome to get out and go, and this is firmly understood by all.
But the raspberries, still on the selection table that we were free to raid ad infinitum – this made no sense. I plucked a raspberry from deep in the carton, testing for any sabotage. They were delicious. Well, I’m not poisoned, I thought, with the faintest of snickers. I proceeded to cut in my ice-cold butter with the confidence of someone who knows that at least they’ve got one step right.
But all these cadets were friends with cadets further along in the program. And they knew the kitchen – its strengths, its weaknesses, its spices – and most of all, they were all friends, with shared knowledge of where other cadets had failed.
And they’d learned from legends passed down that you have to have aluminum-free baking powder to make anything raspberry and baked turn out right because raspberries react with aluminum-based baking powders and turn WILD colors, like Smurf blue or algae green (or both). As they gathered and snickered at my “Sea Smurf Scones” as they called them, and actually patted me on the back with reassuring, “We’ve been there” pats, I realized I might have missed the mark on my scones, but had become an official part of the crowd. After that, I started really throwing myself into learning the art of baking. Soon, the other cadets were calling me “OG,” but I was officially more of a part of our checkered pants and toque-wearing crowd, all of us in our tight white caps awaiting the award of a blue cap, signifying our certification as a true chef.
I like this story because as a chef and in life, I have found we learn more from our failures than our successes. And this true certified chef will tell you that besides AF baking powder, the real secret to scones, fruit or no fruit, is all in the temperature of your ingredients. If you want the ultimate “scone experience,” just chill that butter as directed below. That’s the step that creates the magic – that and using a cold pastry cutter or two cold knives, because that keeps you from over-warming the dough with your hands.
How to Make Ahead and Store?
It is best to freeze unbaked scones. What I do is flash freeze them for an hour so they’re firm, then stack them in freezer bags, uniced. Scones are best used within 3 weeks, or they won’t rise properly. Bake from frozen, always, for best quality but add a few minutes extra baking time and watch them.
Serving Suggestions
These are delicious for breakfast, a snack, or after a deliciously light lunch – like these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps or a super-quick Tex-Mex Crispy Chicken Salad.
If you enjoyed making these Raspberry White Chocolate Scones, you might also like to try this recipe for Mixed Berry Scones too.
Raspberry White Chocolate Scones
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup heavy cream more if needed
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Get started: Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Add butter: Cut the cold butter into the dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives until it looks like coarse crumbs.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, beat the egg with 3/4 cup of heavy cream, then pour into the dry ingredients.
- Form dough: Gently mix until a dough forms, adding more cream if needed. The dough should be slightly sticky but manageable.
- Add extras: Fold in the white chocolate chips and raspberries with care to avoid overmixing. It’s okay if the raspberries get a little squished.
- Shape scones: Turn the dough onto a floured surface and shape into two 6-inch rounds. Cut each round into 6 wedges.
- Ready to bake: Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet, giving them a little space to expand.
- Bake to perfection: Bake for about 12 minutes or until the scones are light golden brown. Let them cool slightly before serving.
Leave a Comment