I have a lot of recipes for scones and this is one of my favorites. This recipe works well with raspberries too (I cut my raspberries in half for this recipe, if they are larger then I quarter them.) It's important to refrigerate these once cooled, for longer storage. We pop the scones in the toaster oven to warm them up and serve with a little butter or strawberry jam on the side. Enjoy! Diane
Homemade Strawberry Scones makes 16 scones Ingredients Scones: 2 cups strawberries; cleaned, stemmed and cut into small pieces 2 cups all-purpose flour 3 Tablespoons sugar, divided 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter 2/3 cup milk Topping: 1 egg, whisked for egg wash 2 Tablespoons demerara sugar Directions Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Clean and cut the strawberries into small pieces, add to a bowl with 1 Tablespoon of the sugar. In a separate large bowl, place the flour, salt, baking powder and remaining sugar. Add the butter and using 2 knives or a pastry blender start cutting into the butter. Use your hands if necessary but the mixture needs to resemble small peas. Add the strawberries to the bowl and coat well with the dry mixture. In a small bowl mix the egg and milk together then add to the flour bowl. Using a spatula mix everything well. Add in more flour, as needed, if dough is too wet (if it sticks to your hands too much.) Turn dough onto a well floured surface and shape into two equal rounds. Cut each round of dough into 8 triangles, just like you would cut pizza and place the triangles over a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with demerara sugar. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Kitchen Tip: The butter in scones needs to be super COLD. IF you've handled your dough too much, you will want to set your scones in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before baking. In the Winter, its cold enough here that can I set my baking tray, covered in saran, outside on our patio table to chill before baking.
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I want to thank The Washington State Fruit Commission for sending me such fabulous fruits as part of my 2018 Canbassadorship! I hope you enjoy this jam as much as I enjoyed creating it. The cherries from Northwest Cherries were exceptional this year! Truly a treat to create with... Enjoy! ~Diane
Diane's Cherry Berry Jam Ingredients: 2 Cups Whole Cherries, cleaned & pitted 1-1/2 Cups Sliced Strawberries 1-1/4 Cups Blueberries; I used a pint of my canned blueberries 3/4 Cup Honey 1-1/2 Cups Sugar; divided 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 1/2 large lemon; the zest and juice 1/8 teaspoon butter; to prevent foaming 1/2 box SureJell Low Sugar Pectin (pink box) Directions: Place all your sliced fruit in a large bowl, add 1/4 cup of sugar, toss to coat, cover and set in fridge overnight. This will macerate the fruit (this releases the juices and deepens the fruit flavor in finished product) Take Macerated fruit, and all the juices in bowl and scrape into a large jam pot. Cook down 15 minutes on medium (keep an eye on it and stir to prevent scorching) Add in 1 cup of sugar, the honey, vanilla bean paste, lemon juice with zest. Stir and cook down the entire mixture another 20-35 minutes (it should start to thicken as it cooks down) Add in butter (helps lessen foaming), then use an immersion blender (or mash with a potato masher) and break up large chunks of fruit until you get the consistency of jam you prefer **do not liquefy the mixture. Take your pectin and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and stir together in a small bowl. Raise the heat on your jam mixture to High. Add in the sugar/pectin mix and stir/whisk constantly until you are at a boil that cannot be stirred away - boil hard for one minute. I look for a 'craggy skin' to start to form around the edges of the pot/mixture...indicating gel stage has been released. Remove pot from heat, do freezer plate test to ensure gel stage has been reached, and prepare to jar jam for processing. Waterbath or Steam Can at 1/4" head-space for 10 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. Remove to a draft free area and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Wash & Label Jars. Store in Pantry up to One Year. Once opened, this lower sugar jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks. Makes approximately 5 half pints Triple Berry Jam *No Sugar Ingredients: 2 Cups Strawberries (1 cup crushed) 2 Cups Raspberries (1 cup crushed) 2 Cups Blackberries (1 cup crushed) 3/4 Cup Water 1 Packet Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin for No Sugar recipes (pink box) 1/2 Cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, optional
Recipe Note: For a sweeter jam with a firmer set, You can substitute in either, one thawed from frozen can (12oz); apple juice concentrate or white grape juice concentrate in place of the 3/4 cup water. The substitution makes about 4 half pints and does add in sugars from those concentrates. Recipe Adapted from: Kraft Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home This simple cake reminds me of a slightly more dense cake clafoutis (clafoutis being more egg-y and pancake like.) I had been macerating my strawberries in sugar already and I think that is one reason my strawberries sank down into the cake - when set on top of the batter fresh - the strawberries usually sink just a little bit... (still such an excellent flavor!) This is best served lightly dusted with powdered sugar and with a little side of berries and whipped cream. ~Enjoy! Diane
Strawberry Summer Cake Ingredients: 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided 1 large egg 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 3/4 pound strawberries, cleaned, hulled and halved Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries and batter. (this will create the crispy crust) Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Can be stored, covered and at room temp for up to 2 days. Diane Strawberry Cleaning Tip: When I bring home fresh strawberries from the store - I place them in my small salad spinner, fill the bowl with water and a splash of white vinegar, add in the berries and let them soak for a good 10 minutes, agitating the water every now and then, drain water out and rinse berries well. This will clean the berries and even extend their 'shelf life" if placing in the fridge to eat fresh. (This works great for blueberry and blackberries too) Recipe by: Martha Stewart Living Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Small batch jams yield greater results - try my Strawberry-Honey Jam. It's a favorite of ours and such a great treat. We love this not only topping toast but, I use as a filling to layered cakes, thumbprint cookie filling, swirl into your morning smoothie or oatmeal... even topping off cottage cheese. Enjoy! Diane
Diane's Strawberry-Honey Jam Ingredients: 4 Cups cleaned and stemmed strawberries Juice of half a lemon, about 2 Tbs Lemon zest from one lemon 1/2 pkg. powdered fruit pectin (pink box low sugar surejel) 1 1/2 Cups honey 1 3/4 Cups sugar 2 tsp vanilla bean paste, divided (or 2-3 vanilla beans, scraped) Directions: Combine cleaned, cored strawberries and 1/2 cup of the sugar in non-reactive container and let sit covered & refrigerated overnight. The next day, place berries with juices & sugar that are in bowl into deep stockpot and add lemon zest, juice and 1/2 the vanilla bean paste. Cook over medium heat so berries have time to cook down. Mash berries down and mix *sugar and honey into fruit. (*save 1/4 cup of sugar to mix with pectin to prevent lumps of pectin in jam) Bring to a medium boil, skim off any foam. Stir in *sugar/pectin mixture and bring to a full rolling boil until mixture has thickened (skim off any foam again if needed). When ready, jam will feel thick and sticky when stirred. The color will become a deep red, Stir in other 1/2 of vanilla bean paste. Ladle into hot, sterile half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes or according to local regulations. Makes 4-5 half-pints. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |