CABBI Travel Blog

Blueberry Scones from Amador Harvest Inn

Every 4^th of July, our street hosts a day-long block party that kicks off with a potluck brunch on our neighbor’s lawn.  I woke up late yesterday and needed a quick recipe using ingredients I had on hand. I had previously picked up cartons of fresh blueberries from the farmer’s market. Using that as a starting point, I remembered a recipe for blueberry scones from the Amador Harvest Inn. The charming, four-room country inn is tucked among acres of rolling vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley near Plymouth, California. 

The inn’s light, buttery, blueberry scones can be paired with a lemon icing that serves as a sweet, tart counterpoint.  The trick to the recipe is to ensure the butter, cream, eggs, and blueberries are as cold as possible.  I used a frozen stick of butter and tried my best to freeze the fresh blueberries.  When adding the blueberries to the dough, be careful not to knead too much.  I squashed a few not-quite-frozen berries and the juice stained the dough. 

Nevertheless, when I brought the scones out to the 4^th of July brunch, they disappeared in an instant.  I watched one of our neighborhood kids ride his red, white, and blue-festooned bike up and down the street while eating one of the scones. Another kid zipped by on her scooter licking lemon icing from her fingers. 

Ingredients

Servings: 16

Scones:

• 2 cups flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 stick of frozen unsalted butter
• 1 cup fresh and then frozen blueberries
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Lemon Icing:

• 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
• ¼ cup cream cheese
• 2 cups Confectioners’ sugar

Scones:

Hint:  Have the butter, cream, and egg as cold as possible.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Use a cheese grater to shred the stick of butter onto a plate and place the butter back in the freezer. 

In a measuring cup with a pour spout, add one egg.  Then bring up to ¾ cup with heavy whipping cream. Add 1 tbsp. vanilla to the egg and whipping cream. 

Measure dry ingredients into bowl. Mix with fork. Add the shredded butter to the dry ingredients and cut in using a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. (If using a food processor, pulse to blend.) 

Whisk the wet ingredients and then mix into the dry ingredients.  Add the frozen blueberries.

Turn dough out on a floured surface. Gently knead together into a ball. DO NOT OVER KNEAD. Cut into four even pieces, and then cut each of the pieces into four more equal pieces for a total of 16 scones. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Alternatively, the unbaked scones can be placed between parchment paper and frozen for use at a later date. 

ICING:

Beat cream cheese with lemon juice and add confectioners’ sugar until thick enough. Once the scones have cooled, drizzle the icing over the top.