American Cream Scones

Before you start

Cream scones are the easiest scones to make well. Heavy cream supplies both the fat and the liquid, so there is no butter to cut in and no risk of warm butter streaks. The result is a tender, close-textured wedge with a lightly crisp, sugar-crusted top: richer than a British scone and less flaky than a butter scone.

The main judgment call is how much cream to add. Flour absorbency varies, so add most of it, then drizzle in the rest only until the dough holds together. Pat it into a round, cut it into wedges and chill briefly so the scones keep their sharp shape in the oven.

Ingredients

• 300 g (2½ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp (12 g) baking powder
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 300 ml (1¼ cups) heavy cream — cold; plus 2 tbsp for brushing
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp coarse or turbinado sugar — for the tops

Method

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
2. Stir the vanilla into the cream. Pour about 270 ml of the cream into the flour and fold with a spatula until a shaggy dough forms.
3. Drizzle in the remaining cream a little at a time, folding only until no dry flour remains at the bottom of the bowl. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead 4 or 5 times to bring it together. Pat it into a 20 cm (8 in) circle about 2 cm (¾ in) thick.
5. Cut the round into 8 wedges with a floured bench scraper. Set them on the sheet 5 cm (2 in) apart and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F).
6. Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
7. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the tops are golden and the edges are lightly browned. A toothpick in the thickest wedge should come out clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

Tips for success

• Cold cream matters: warm cream makes the dough sticky and the scones spread.
• For softer sides, bake the wedges close together; for crisp edges all around, space them well apart.
• Mix fruit or chips into the dry ingredients before the cream so you do not overwork the dough later.

Substitutions

Heavy cream

Whipping cream with about 30% fat works but the scones are slightly less tender. Half-and-half is too lean; it gives dry, tough results.

Granulated sugar

Light brown sugar adds a faint caramel flavor and makes the crumb a little moister.

Vanilla extract

Use ½ tsp almond extract with cherries, or the finely grated zest of an orange for citrus scones.

Variations

Currant cream scones

Add 75 g dried currants to the flour mixture.

Chocolate chip cream scones

Fold in 90 g mini chocolate chips; skip the coarse sugar or keep it for extra crunch.

Glazed lemon scones

Add the zest of 1 lemon to the dough. Glaze cooled scones with 60 g powdered sugar stirred with about 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Troubleshooting

Scones spread and lost their points

The dough was too wet or warm. Hold back some cream, and do not skip the 15-minute chill.

Dry, floury scones

Not enough cream for your flour. Add cream until the dough fully holds together, and weigh the flour rather than scooping.

Dense centers

Old baking powder or underbaking. Replace baking powder that has been open more than 6 months and bake until the center tests clean.

Storage

Keep cooled scones airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days. Freeze baked scones for 2 months, or freeze the unbaked wedges and bake from frozen with 3 to 4 extra minutes. Refrigerate leftover cream promptly.

Safety notes

Do not taste the dough before baking; raw flour may carry bacteria. Contains wheat and milk.