Strawberry Scones

Good morning! The weekend is finally here... now time for a nice home made breakfast! I happened to be bored last weekend and actually watching Food Network on tv. I love Barefoot Contessa and was lucky enough to catch her show. On it she made these strawberry scones using dried strawberries. They looked so good through the tv that I had to make them. Turns out I had her cookbook sitting on our kitchen counter for years with the recipe but never thought to make them. It's funny how watching something on tv makes it that much more appealing than reading it in a cookbook. Finding dried strawberries was a bit tricky, they weren't in the local grocery store like other dried fruit. I was able to find them at Fresh Market and stocked up.

For me these will make the perfect breakfast or snack to go along with my cup of tea! They would be great for a brunch, bridal shower or tea party. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Strawberry Scones
Yields: 14-16 scones
Slightly adapted from: Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients:
4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

2 Tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1.5 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cold heavy cream (I used skim milk)

3/4 cup small-diced dried strawberries

1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 4 cups of flour, 2 Tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour and butter mixture.

Combine until just blended. Toss the strawberries with 1 tablespoon of flour, add them to the dough, and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.
Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into squares with a 4-inch plain or fluted cutter, and then cut them in half diagonally to make triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with raw or granulated sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outsides are crisp and the insides are fully baked.

Strawberry Shortcakes

Summer is here! Despite the heat, it still feels like back home when you start grilling, having friends over, pool parties and tons of fresh fruit! I absolutely love strawberry shortcake and yet rarely make it. And I mean the home made sweeter biscuit version, not the sponge cakes you find at the store. The strawberries are in abundance in the summer and it's a tore.great way to use some up or take advantage while they are cheaper in the stores. These are super simple to make and you can taste the difference.

Strawberry Shortcakes
Serves: 8
Source: Betty Crocker

Ingredients:
2 pints strawberries (4 cups), sliced
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup firm butter
2/3 cup milk

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar until well mixed. Let stand about 1 hour so strawberries become juicy.

2. Heat oven to 425F.

3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposit directions), until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in milk justuntil blended. Drop dough by 8 spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes.

5. Cut shortcakes horizontally in half while warm. Fill and top each with strawberries and whipped cream. Enjoy!

Strawberries Galore!

Yesterday the local farm was having a free pick your own strawberries and tomatoes weekend! Needless to say we went and took advantage of that. While everyone knows I don't like tomatoes we couldn't resist them and J brought them into work for the team. We definitely underestimated the picking and quickly filled up our 3 Tupperware containers with strawberries. This meant J brought in 1 container to work but I had to find a recipe to use some of them up.

Lemon Ricotta Strawberry Muffins (adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles)

Makes 15 muffins

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat pastry flou
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1½ cups strawberries, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Spray the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with paper liners. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

2. In a medium bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Whisk in the eggs, ricotta, buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice, and butter. Pour the ricotta mixture into the flour mixture and fold in until the flour is evenly dispersed. Add the strawberries and fold until the flour is moistened (some lumps are okay) and the strawberries are evenly distributed.

3. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Let them cool for about 5 minutes and enjoy!