With the warm weather finally upon us, it is time for us to dabble with some cute springtime recipes to get over all the L’s from this semester. While we start to catch up on some sleep, it’s also important to wake up and eat a filling breakfast or brunch. A fancy addition to your traditional brunch menu can include scones, frittata, and even sangria. To keep things refreshing and simple, today’s recipe will be mixed berry scones with a vanilla-lemon icing.

Scones can be quite intimidating to make, mainly because it can be hard to achieve that buttery and flakey texture. This recipe incorporates butter in three different steps to achieve a delish buttery flavour, but also a flakey pastry. Now since this semester has drained us of our livelihood and quite possibly led to foodless and sleepless nights, this recipe is sure to plump us up with all the sugar and fat, but don’t feel guilty—at least there’s some fruit!

INGREDIENTS

Mixed Berry Scones:

• 1 1/3 cups mixed berries (frozen). You can use any sort of berry combination here or leave them out.
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• 3 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 3/4 cup butter (unsalted, cut into cubes)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 milk (whole milk preferred, 2% is okay)
• 1 egg, plus 1 extra egg yolk (large)

Glaze for Baking:

• 3 tbsp butter (unsalted, melted)
• 2 tbsp jam (any kind, can substitute for honey)

Vanilla-Lemon Icing:

• 1/2 cup icing sugar (more if needed)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Lemon zest from half a lemon
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp milk (more if needed)

DIRECTIONS

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Combine frozen berries with the icing sugar and place in freezer till later.
3. Combine the flour with the regular sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add in half the cold butter and work into the flour until you form a fine sand. Add the remaining butter and work into the dough until you form small pea-sized pieces. Mix in the frozen berries with a spatula gently.
4. In a separate bowl beat the egg, yolk and milk till combined. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Generously flour a work surface and pour the dough onto it. Knead the dough until it comes together and forms a large disk. Around 1 inch in height.
6. Use a knife to cut the disk into 8 equal triangles. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown on down. Rotate the baking sheet after 10 minutes of baking.
7. After 20 minutes remove the scones and brush the tops with the glaze. Place back in oven and cook for 5 minutes or until nice and golden brown. (For the glaze place the butter and jam/honey in a bowl and microwave till melted).
8. Transfer onto a wire rack and cool the scones. Once cooled drizzle over the lemon glaze. (For the glaze, add the vanilla, sugar, lemon zest/juice and milk to the icing sugar. Add more sugar if too liquid or add more milk if too viscous).
9. Serve alongside some tea or coffee. Enjoy them room temperature or warm.

NOTE: The scone dough can be cut into triangle and be frozen individually and stored in a plastic bag to be baked for another time. They can stay frozen for up to 1 month. When baking, place them in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes (before adding the glaze).

This recipe is very versatile and can be tailored to one’s tastes and dietary restrictions. You can change the combination of berries you use or you can leave them out entirely. Another option would be to flavour the dough with 1 tbsp of lemon zest and poppy seeds. You can eat these scones with jam and even butter.

Scones make a great alternative to traditional cookies and crackers during tea time, because you know spilling the tea with friends is the best time of the year. Lemon-poppy seed scones pair well with rooibos tea or hibiscus, mixed berry scones pair well with earl grey tea or classic English breakfast teas. Why not also try scones with currants and ginger that you can pair with the spiciness of chai tea? The possibilities are endless!

Regardless of the type or occasion, scones are a great way to impress the boys and reel the future baby daddy in! So, show off all that class, sass and whole lot of… SKILL with your adventurous scone making!