Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Strawberry Basil Scones

It's tea time for this month's 5 Star Foodie Makeover!



When I heard plans for our virtual British afternoon tea, I immediately thought of strawberries and cream.  I know, I know, more Wimbledon than tea party, but I couldn't shake the idea and decided to morph it into something you would normally see at a tea party...  scones!




My incarnation of strawberries and cream turned into a strawberry basil scone served with coconut cream.  Dehydrating the berries a bit helped prevent adding alot of extra moisture to the scones.  They were quite delicious, especially served alongside some tea, however I realized that I don't have any "proper" tea cups!  Please excuse the oversize mugs that I'm partial to :)



Strawberry Basil Scones w/Coconut Cream
scones adapted from A Cozy Kitchen, coconut cream from Cook's Illustrated (found here)
yield:  6 scones

If you have a chance, put your coconut milk in the fridge the day or two before you're planning on making the scones, it will help solidify the cream of coconut!

For the scones:
8 medium strawberries, quartered
1c flour (I used a mix of white whole wheat, oat and cake flour*)
1 1/2t baking powder
1 1/2T evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
1/4t fine sea salt
2 1/2T unsalted butter, cold  (could use Earth Balance to make these completely dairy-free)
6 medium basil leaves
1/2c coconut milk (full fat, or heavy cream), plus a little extra

For the coconut cream:
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 1/2t evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
1/2t vanilla extract
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 200deg.

Place strawberries on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Bake the strawberries for 45min-1hr, until they are slightly dehydrated.  Set aside to cool.

Turn the oven to 425deg.  Place a mixing bowl and beaters into the freezer.

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Whisk together.  Grate in butter and using your hands, quickly work the butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse meal.  Chiffonade basil leaves (roll into a cigar and slice, creating ribbons) and add them to the flour/butter mixture along with the strawberries.  Gently combine and then pour in coconut milk and mix until the dough begins to form, ~30sec.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5-10sec.  Pat dough into a 1" thick circle and cut into 6 wedges  (or 4 or 8, if you prefer).  Put scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush with coconut milk and then bake 12-15min, until scones are light brown.

While the scones are baking, remove the can of coconut milk from the fridge and the bowl/beaters from the freezer.  Using a spoon, take off the top layer of cream that should have formed (reminded me of shortening) and add it to the bowl.  Add in the sugar, vanilla and pinch of salt.  Beat on low speed until small bubbles form, ~30sec.  Increase the speed to high and beat until the cream thickens and light peaks form, ~2min. Refrigerate until your scones are done cooling.

Once the scones are done, transfer them to a wire rack for at least 10min to cool before serving with coconut cream.




*Yes, I need to go to the store!


Have you ever been to an afternoon tea?  What's your favorite treat?

28 comments:

Evelyne CulturEatz said...

Strawberries and cream is such a great combo, love your unique twist! What a great idea to dehydrating them a bit first.

Faith said...

Your scones are beautiful! I love the addition of basil, what a fun idea!

Laura said...

Those strawberries look amazing! And the scones look pretty good too. ;-)

We Are Not Martha said...

Love these photos (and your mug!). I'm a huge fan of desserts with strawberries AND basil!

Sues

Jean said...

These sound like a definite "ace"!

Delicious Dishings said...

These look amazing!! Strawberries and cream are perfect together.

Joanne said...

I like your version of tea better than anything traditional! The strawberry basil combo in scones sounds pretty perfect to me!

Lori Lynn said...

Hi Shannon ~ ooh love the combination of flavors in your scones! Great makeover...
No tea cup, no problem...Somehow your mug works in the shot.
LL

Emily @ A Cambridge Story said...

Strawberries and basil together sounds lovely!

Mary Ellen @ Pâte à Chew said...

Yum, what a unique flavor combo you don't often see in scones. I have no doubt the tea party was a success!

CJ - Food Stories said...

Great job ... I love scones & I love mixing my flours :-)

angela@spinachtiger said...

Heart stopping. Basil is such a good addition here. I am marking this for when I have to bring treats to church.

Angie's Recipes said...

A fantastic combo of flavours. They look simply irresistible!

Katerina said...

Adding basil to these scones is such a unique idea. Strawberries are my favorite spring fruits!

Anonymous said...

Basil and strawberries are an excellent combo, yummy scones! And love the coconut cream here too!

Erica said...

Great combination of flavors!!!! Strawberries are awesome in baked goods!

Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic said...

I love tea for everyday, and my most memorable afternoon tea was at L'Espalier! These scones look lovely.

Esi said...

Scones are perfect for a tea party. Love the flavor combination.

Cathleen said...

What a combination! This looks fantastic, I have GOT to try strawberry scones!

Elizabeth said...

These sound heavenly. I need to see herbs more in sweet scones

Joan Nova said...

Very nice. I like the surprise of basil and coconut here.

Victoria said...

I love the idea of dehydrating the berries. Adding fresh fruit to scones could easily make them mushy if the fruit is too juicy, but this sounds great! I also love the coconut cream. Don't fret about proper tea cups. It's what's IN the cup that really counts :-D

Amy (Savory Moments) said...

These scones sound absolutely delicious! I love basil and strawberries and love herbs in baked goods like this.

Deana Sidney said...

There is something about basil and sugar that I am crazy about . It's one of my favorite jellies and I use it on everything. I can imagine the basil with the strawberry will be divine! Beautiful photo and the cup works perfectly!

Hannah said...

Such a delicious, bright, and vibrant flavor combination! I love using basil in desserts, especially with berries.

Tasty Trix said...

Strawberries and basil are such a great combo, and I adore the coconut cream!!

Kerstin said...

Great idea to bake the strawberries first for a bit - the scones look perfect! And coconut cream, yes please :)

Elina (Satisfied Cravings) said...

My first time eating scones was on a trip to Scotland during college. I think I was eating like 2 a day... I thought they were healthy because they were kinda dry. Ha! These look a lot more sophisticated :)

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