Introduction: Sourdough Strawberry Scones

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About: A 13 year old food enthusiast who loves playing around with, well, food. Aside from bad jokes (and food), I love to play chess, jump on the trampoline and read biographies.

These exquisite Sourdough Strawberry Scones are any tea-lovers dream. But, even out of tea time, these scones prove to be quite the craved-for snack. Plus, they are perfect for anyone looking for a more refined bite. And despite the above, who would not be ready to experiment with another sourdough delicacy?

SO, get your apron on, take out those strawberries and start baking. You won't regret it, trust me.

Supplies

For 8 servings:

Scones:

1 cup Sourdough Discard/Levain (100% Hydration) (275 gm)*
1 cup All Purpose Flour
180 gm Strawberries**
1 stick of Butter (113 gm)***
¼ cup Sugar
1 medium-sized egg****
2 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt 
¼ tsp Baking Soda
Zest of 1 Lime
3 tbsp Heavy Cream*****


optional:

Glaze:

1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 tbs Softened Butter
2-4 tbsp Milk
1 large pureed Strawberry


*If you don't have sourdough on hand, you can substitute for 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour. However, I would highly recommend creating your own. Learn more here.

**Fresh and Frozen both work

***Butter must be ice-cold and not softened. I would recommend putting butter out of the fridge into the freezer for 5-10 minutes for the right temp.

****optional. If added, the egg will promote a richer texture which would otherwise be more dense.

*****For cream wash. Can be substituted with milk or egg whites.

Step 1: Prerequisites

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a circular skillet or baking pan.

Step 2: Prepare Strawberries

Begin by chopping the strawberries into small pieces. Set aside.

Step 3: Preparation for Dough

Sift all the dry ingredients over a large bowl. Then, grate the cold butter over the dry mixture. Gently mix the grated butter in. You can now also mix in the lime zest.

Step 4: Preparing Sourdough

On the other hand, whisk the sourdough discard/levain with the egg and vanilla extract. Add this to the dry mixture.

Step 5: Forming the Dough

After adding the wet ingredients in, lightly knead. You can now add the strawberries in small portions while kneading. The strawberries are bound to add moisture to the dough; if you feel you're dough is getting too sticky, feel free to add more flour. The result should be a soft and wobbly dough.

Step 6: Shaping- 1

Add the dough to a dusted workspace. Knead a couple more times to make sure the strawberries are properly combined with the rest of the dough. Start to shape a circular figure with a diameter of approx. 8 inches and a height of around two.

Step 7: Shaping- 2

Now with the help of a bench scraper, chop the dough into 8 pieces like shown above.


On a side note, you can shape the scones into whatever shape you desire; I just opted for the traditional English wedge.

Step 8: Cream Wash

Spread a bit of heavy cream over each scone. Subsequently sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar over as per taste.

Step 9: Baking

Move the scones into the greased skillet/pan and set for baking. Baking time can vary from 20-30 minutes.

Step 10: Glaze

(optional)

While the scones are baking, you can whip up a quick strawberry glaze by simply mixing together:

1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 tbs Softened Butter
2-4 tbs Milk
1 large pureed Strawberry


The glaze should turn out to be thick though pourable. If not, adjust with more Powdered Sugar/Milk.

Step 11: Epilogue

See, I told you they would be this good ;). Thank you for following till here and I hope you enjoy your scones as much as I did!

Until next time,

Chef Vihaan