A simple scone with a little extra flavour. Perfect for homemade jam.
I really wanted something to eat my jam with. I was content with just toast but I left a brand new store-bought loaf on the edge of the counter before I went out and guess who got it? George just couldn’t help himself and pulled it off the counter. I was very disappointed to discover that Buffy also got in on the action and likely ate much more of the bread than Georgie. She was hiding under the bed when I got home, consumed with guilt and likely a sore belly. BTW – you don’t want to know how I confirmed that Buffy ate most of the bread.
Sure I could have run out to the store but I was inspired to bake and scones are so easy. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a simple dessert that I made after going strawberry picking at Herrles’ a couple of weeks ago. I mixed some brown sugar with crème fraiche (from Bailey’s Local Foods) and spooned it over strawberries. It was one of the best desserts I have had in ages.
I still had quite of bit of crème fraiche in the fridge so I thought I may as well see how it would work in a scone. I reduced the amount of milk a would normally put in a scone and reduced the amount of butter as well since crème fraiche is 35% milk fat. I kept the amount of sugar low in this recipe because I planned on putting jam on the scone. If you like a sweeter scone then increase the amount of brown sugar to 1/2 cup instead of just 1/3.
The inspiration: 1/4 cup crème fraiche + 1 heaped tsp brown sugar+ 1 cup or more of fresh strawberries= an amazing dessert
I made these scones around Canada Day which is why I used my maple leaf biscuit cutter. I was pleasantly surprised that they held their shape even after baking. I had thought that I might end up with distorted maple leaf scones. These turned out really well and I made sure that they were well pushed back on the counter so that George, the Artful Dodger couldn’t get a hold of any.
Scones brushed lightly with egg wash and sprinkled with sugar
Crème Fraiche & Brown Sugar Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup cold butter cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup crème fraiche
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, add all the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powders and brown sugar and pulse to combine (or use a regular bowl and mix well with spoon).
- Add the cold butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is about the size of a pea or smaller. If you are going old school on this, use a pastry cutter to achieve the same result.
- Into a small bowl, add the crème fraiche and milk. Stir to combine. Add the egg and stir again and then pour the whole mixture into the food processor.
- Pulse the food processor until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.
- Empty dough onto a floured board or counter top. Bring the dough together with your hands using gentle kneading. Shape it into a disc and then roll it out using a rolling pin to 1.5 cm thickness (slightly over 1/2 inch).
- Cut out scones using a biscuit cutter of whatever shape you like. I used a maple leaf shaped one and this gave me one dozen scones.
- Place scones on lined cookie sheet. This is when you can brush it with the egg wash and sprinkle it with course sugar if you like. Totally not necessary but it is a nice touch.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. The baking time will vary according to how thinly you rolled out the dough, size of biscuit cutter used or your oven. Check them at 10 minutes just to be sure.
It looks as good as it tastes. Why is it so hard to find creme fraiche in Canada?
Oh, and I rated it 3 stars because for some reason I couldn’t give it a higher rating from my phone.