Cream Scones

Hurray for my first post! I actually made these back in January after having been inspired by the scones I had at Chado Tea Room. Flaky, decadent, light; they were simply divine. Having said that, I was set on recreating these flaky morsels and I've found a recipe that comes pretty close. This recipe is an adaptation from Smitten Kitchen. Since I did not have heavy whipping cream on hand, I used normal whipping cream. In addition, I painted a cream wash on top of the unbaked scones for a golden finish. It was actually not as nicely browned as I would have liked so maybe next time I will try an egg yolk egg wash. I have yet to try, but I am pretty sure this can be a base for all varieties of scones. Please enjoy!

Cream Scones
2 cups (10 ounces) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoon chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 in cubes
1 cup whipping cream

1. Adjust oven wrack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F
2. Whisk dry ingredients together in large bowl (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt)
3. Using a pastry scraper (alternatively you can use two knives or a food processor), cut in butter until it resembles a course meal.
4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula until dough begins to form ( approx 30 seconds).
5. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead dough by hand until it just starts to come together. At this point you can either make triangular scones or round scones.  To make triangular scones press the dough into an 8 inch cake pan, then turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 8 wedges and voila! Alternatively, roll out dough and cut with biscuit cutter.
6. Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet, paint on eggwash, and bake until the tops are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire wrack for 10 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy.

You can serve these with jam, honey, or whipped cream as I did here. Homemade whipped cream is super duper easy to make so don't buy the canned stuff. Yuck! It takes less than 5 minutes so just make your own!