Happy First Day of Spring!
Time for Tyler Florence Fridays -- today we had Tyler's Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze for breakfast, yum!
Blueberry Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones
1 cup fresh blueberries
Tyler's Lemon Glaze:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 lemon, zest finely grated
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
My Easy Lemon Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. (I say 375!)
Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.
Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. *I shaped mine differently because my dough was extra dry and the berries would not hold up to being pressed and cut with the blueberries...
Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.
Technically you should make this simple lemon glaze in a double boiler (i.e. over a pot of simmering water with a heatproof bowl set on top) but it's even simpler to zap it in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.
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Results & Changes: These were a fun and easy breakfast treat but I did have a touch of trouble with shaping them. After reading lots of positive reviews on the foodnetwork site I did notice a few reviews that said their scone dough was dry and crumbly and wouldn't come together. I had the same problem and I'm not sure why. There was no possible way I could shape these as the recipe suggests, patting down and cutting into the traditional triangle scone shape. I ended up gently pressing them into round scones, which ended up fine in the end, and I guess that's all that matters :) I baked these at 375 (sorry, had to drop that temp down to avoid over browned bottoms which we are not fans of) for the full 20 minutes on an insulated baking sheet (very important!) and they turned out perfectly. Light and fluffy inside, lightly browned on top and golden brown crispy bottoms.
I also changed the lemon glaze, after reading in the reviews that this made a ton of glaze, I decided to halve the sugar and just add two tablespoons of lemon juice and see how it turned out, absolutely perfect! I'm sure Tyler's lemon glaze is great as well but if you don't have a lemon around to zest (or just want a super easy glaze early in the morning, like I did) the easy version is a fine substitute.