Zoë's Baking Academy: Blueberry Scones
Plus, a lemon-blueberry spoon cake for Extras subscribers!
My BFF, Jen, and I met on the first day of kindergarten for our eldest sons, Henri and Jonathan, in 2003. We’ve been at each other’s sides ever since.
Early on in our friendship, she invited me to her cabin on a lake in the bucolic forests of northern Minnesota, where our five boys ran wild and she tried to teach me how to fish for muskie. We also drove along winding dirt roads, for what felt like hours, and ended up on a hill, covered like a blue blanket, in perfectly ripe, wild blueberries. The boys, little pails in hand, ran around picking berries. Each of them was covered in blueberry juice and their pails completely empty. Jen and I managed to fill ours and happily returned to the cabin to make blueberry pancakes for the kids and a blueberry galette for us moms. It was the perfect day, reminiscent of Blueberries for Sal, my favorite children’s book, sans the bears.
Decades later, Jen and I visited her new secret blueberry patch for an episode of my show, Zoë Bakes. In the episode I took my bounty home to make blueberry bars and these now very popular, blueberry scones! I’m excited for you to give them a try. I created a brand new recipe for Extras subscribers: a lemon-blueberry spoon cake!
Zoë’s Baking Academy Details
Before May 31, bake my Blueberry Scones or Lemon-Blueberry Spoon Cake (below). Don’t forget to snap a photo and/or video.
Show us your bake! Tag me (@zoebakes) in an in-feed post on Instagram or Facebook (it’s hard to track Stories, and we may miss them) and use the hashtag #zoebakesacademy and/or #zoebakes. If you don’t use social media or your account is private, you can still participate! Send an email to stephani@zoebakes.com with a photo to let us know you’re in.
For an additional entry into the giveaway, rate and review the recipe on ZoëBakes.com. Paid subscribers who make the spoon cake will automatically get a second entry.
That’s it! We’ll randomly draw a winner in early May. The winner will receive a signed copy of Zoë Bakes Cakes!
Pro Tips for Great Scones
After you whisk together the dry ingredients, you'll work the butter in. I like to use my fingers and a handheld pastry cutter because I think feeling the change in texture of the ingredients as you work it is best. Having said that, you can also use a food processor for great results.
You want some of the flour to resemble cornmeal, once it is cut with the butter, but you also want to keep some of the butter in pea sized pieces, which will create the flakiness in your scones.
Scones are really quite easy to make, but it does require a gentle touch, so they don't come out too tough. Don’t overwork the dough once the liquid is added.
Depending on the temperature and humidity of your kitchen you may not need all the half and half called for in the recipe. Start by adding half and then you can add it as you go, if needed. You want to add enough so there’s no powdery flour left and it’s nice and soft.
I like to start mixing with a wooden spoon and then switch to my hands.
Brushing the top of the dough disk with heavy cream before baking helps create a nice glaze on top. Then you’ll dust it with some sugar.
Cut the dough into wedges (I use my bench scraper. If you like a softer scone, bake it all together so the inside doesn’t get too crusty. If you prefer more crust, separate the wedges.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F to give the scones a nice rise and tender crumb, but when you place the scones in the oven, immediately drop the oven temperature down to 400 degrees F so they don’t brown too quickly.
Lemon-Blueberry Spoon Cake
When you are in the mood for cake, but don’t want to fuss over it, this spoon cake is the answer. Just bake the yellow cake (adapted from Zoë Bakes Cakes) in a baking dish, instead of a cake pan, then layer it with the lemon curd (homemade is bright, tart and luscious, but use store bought in a pinch) lightly sweet whipped cream and fresh berries. So simple and delicious. It is meant to be spooned out of the pan like a trifle. This cake is terrific for a picnic, after school treat or a simple brunch dessert.