Ripe for the Picking

Peaches and nectarines are showing up at the farmer’s market in full force now. Summer is in full swing and the delicious scent of summer fruits-peaches, melons, and berries permeate the air. Even with my COVID mask on I catch whiffs of the heady aroma of vine-ripened fruit.  

I came home with way too many peaches and nectarines of course. After eating more than a couple out of hand I decided it was time to change it up.  I saw a recipe in the NYT for a peach loaf bread but that would mean having the oven on for a very long time, way too hot for that.  How about scones?  I can make Dorie’s Cream Scones and throw in peaches in place of currants and fortunately, they bake in a jiffy. 

Dorie’s Cream Scones is my go-to recipe, I have made it with dried cranberries and orange zest, dried blueberries and lemon, or freeze-dried strawberries.  It lends itself well to variations. But fresh fruit?  A little trickier.  I diced the skinned peach and placed it in the freezer while I made the dough.  I used one cup of diced peaches which is conveniently about 1 peach. 

Partially freezing the peaches (don’t use commercially frozen peaches, those have too much liquid), prevents the peaches from getting smooshed when you fold them into the dough.  I tossed them in when I added the liquid to the dry ingredients but it would be better to add the liquid, blend it to a shaggy mess, then add the peaches as you bring the dough together.

Pearls of Sconedom

Fresh fruit is less focused in sweetness and flavor than dried fruit.  I liked the peaches but they would benefit from a couple of “flavor amplifiers”.  Next time I will add a teaspoon of vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the dough.  I was lazy so I did not put a wash on the scones.  My bad, do not skip this. Brush an egg-wash or heavy cream on the scones before baking and sprinkle them generously with turbinado or sparkling sugar.  This adds both crunch and sweetness.  Another variation to jazz these scones up, finely diced candied or crystallized ginger would be ah-mazing, use about 2 tablespoons.  

Make these scones an hour or two before you serve them. I like them at room temperature, the flavor, and texture set up nicely.  They are often served warm too, just not my preference.  Scones are drier than biscuits which means they are perfect with a spoon of jam and dollop of clotted cream-scone heaven.  If you don’t have clotted cream, you can use creme fraiche, mascarpone, or butter.

Whaddya waiting for, go make some scones!

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Dorie Greenspan's Cream Scones

Dorie's classic cream scones with fresh peaches

Course Biscuits and scones, Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, British

Keyword Cream Scones, Dorie Greenspan, Scones

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter chilled & cut into small pieces

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract optional

Adds:

• 3/4-1 cup fresh fruit-peaches, nectarines, strawberries, berries larger fruit-diced and left to drain on a paper towel while making dough.

Egg wash:

• 2 tbsp heavy cream or egg wash
• turbinado or sparkling sugar

Accompaniments

• jam or preserves serving
• clotted cream substitute creme fraiche or mascarpone

Instructions

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment
• In a small bowl, stir the egg, cream and vanilla (if using) together.
• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
• Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.
• Pour the egg, cream and currants over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, come together. Don't overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times.
• You can also use a food processor. Place dry ingredients in bowl, pulse 1-2 twice to mix. Add butter and pulse 5-6 times until mixture looks like crumbs. Add egg/cream and pulse to dough just begins to clump. Do not overmix! Take mixture out of processor bowl, fold in peaches and shape dough into circles, proceed as below.
• Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet.
• Brush scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar
• Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes (start checking at 15 min) or until their tops are golden and firm. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.
• The scones can be frozen on the baking sheet as the cut wedges, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking- just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.
• Serve with jam and clotted cream or butter

Notes

Great combinations include:

Sub dried blueberries and lemon, add 1 tsp lemon zest

Sub dried cranberries and orange add 1-2 tsp orange zest

Sub fresh fruit for currants:

blueberries, strawberries

cut fruit-partially freeze diced fruit before adding to dough

Lemon Icing

• 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
• 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)