Midnight Baking

For most, strawberry season in Missoula is coming to a close.  As I harvest the last of my strawberries from my June bearing strawberry patch, I am reminded of a recent midnight baking escapade with strawberry rhubarb scones. The scones were deliciously memorable. And as I watch the raspberry canes begin to droop bearing the weight of ripening fruit, I think this strawberry rhubarb scone recipe would translate easily to a raspberry scone recipe.

It all started a couple weeks ago with a craving for a baked good, a breakfast baked good to be exact.  However with the consistent 90-100 degree heat we’ve been experiencing in Missoula, the idea of baking is absolutely ridiculous. Regardless, I couldn’t get the idea of a delicious baked good with my morning coffee out of my head.

I waited until sun down and the temperature outside was cooler and comfortable. Flinging open all doors and windows in the house, I hesitantly fired up the oven to 425 degree and hastily started adding flour, sugar, salt and butter into a bowl. As the dough began to take shape, I could feel some of the heat slipping out of the oven and beads of sweat prickled on my forehead. I moved quicker, dropping ruby strawberries and chopped rhubarb into the sticky dough, then finally folding and forming the triangular scone shapes. Once in the oven, I stepped outside and sat on the porch. The birds were still whistling and trilling to each other in the trees as the last daylight faded. Only five minutes later the sweet smell of the scones wafted through the window, and another five minutes later I pulled the thick and fluffy scones out of the oven.

It was just about midnight when I finished cleaning up, so I crawled into bed. In the morning, I had strawberry rhubarb scones with my coffee and smiled.

This recipe for strawberry rhubarb scones come from Heather Cristo.  I also encourage you to try it with raspberries instead of strawberries. Let me know how it goes and keep cool!

Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Scones

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 Tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup rhubarb, cut into ½” slices
• 1 cup strawberries sliced
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Pulse it together.
3. Add the cold butter and pulse until the butter has been cut into the flour and you have a coarse crumb.
4. In a small bowl beat together the cream and the egg. Add it to the mixture and pulse until you have a dough that comes together but is still crumbly and wet.
5. Dump the dough out onto a generously floured counter top and gently fold the fruit into the dough with your hands.
6. Using the extra flour, pat the dough into a disc. Using a floured knife, cut the disc into 6-8 scones (depending on preference of size).
7. Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 2 tablespoons of whipping cream.
8. Bake the scones for 10 minutes until slightly golden around the edges. Let the scones cool for a few minutes and firm up before removing them from the pan.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature with strawberry jam.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 10 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8