Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.
Today: Bake some scones. Your day will be better for it.
I really think that there are very few of life’s little rough patches that can’t be fixed by having a good scone and a cup of hot coffee or tea -- or else by rocking an awesome shade of lipstick -- but let’s focus on the scone. No, a scone can’t fix the big problems, but it can make you feel a lot better about all the little things that get to you on a bad day. Which is why, if you wake up after a night of poor sleep only to discover that it’s suddenly freezing cold and pelting rain outside and you didn’t remember to take in the laundry that was out drying, baking a batch of scones for breakfast may be the best possible way to cope.
Scones require a gentle touch, a little bit of letting go and not overworking the dough -- precisely the same approach you may need to take with yourself when you’re not at your best that day, especially in the morning. If you don’t, you’ll wind up with something dense and muffin-like, and that certainly won’t solve anything!
These scones are extra palliative, with their sweet-tart treasure of berries tucked in between layers of buttery, crumbly, airy scone. It’s like a cobbler you can hold in your hand, or a scone that’s come pre-spread with jam. And, it will make your morning (or afternoon) so much better.
Blackberry Stuffed Scones
Makes 8 large scones
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbs. sugar, divided
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoom baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces fresh blackberries
1 teaspoon lemon zest
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photos by Emily Vikre
I like to say I'm a lazy iron chef (I just cook with what I have around), renegade nutritionist, food policy wonk, and inveterate butter and cream enthusiast! My husband and I own a craft distillery in Northern Minnesota called Vikre Distillery (www.vikredistillery.com), where I claimed the title, "arbiter of taste." I also have a doctorate in food policy, for which I studied the changes in diet and health of new immigrants after they come to the United States. I myself am a Norwegian-American dual citizen. So I have a lot of Scandinavian pride, which especially shines through in my cooking on special holidays. Beyond loving all facets of food, I'm a Renaissance woman (translation: bad at focusing), dabbling in a variety of artistic and scientific endeavors.
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