Lime Blackberry Scones

This recipe was inspired by Erin mentioning that a bakery near her house used to have Lime Blackberry scones sometimes. I adapted this recipe from The Kitchen Bachelor’s Orange and Cranberry Scones. It is kind of fiddly, but it is the best scone recipe I’ve tried. Substitute Lemon and Blueberry, Orange and Cranberry, or pretty much any zest and berry combo you can think of. Guaranteed to result in delicious scones. Using frozen berries will yield excellent results. If you don’t have frozen, the fresh cranberries hold up well, but for other berries, frozen are recommended.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
• zest of 2 limes (organic preferred)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), frozen
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream + 1 tbsp, separated
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen blackberries
• coarse sprinkling sugar

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar (120g)
• 2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice (from zested limes)

Method

1. In a large bowl, add sugar and lime zest. Squeeze zest through sugar until thoroughly combined to release oils.
2. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
3. With a large box grater, grate the frozen butter. I use a glove to be sure that I don’t grate my fingers – this is the tough part! Note: you can try to use a food processor for this, but I have done that and not had much luck.
4. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, (I always use my fingers) combine the butter and flour mixture, lightly, until the butter is incorporated and pea-sized.
5. Option 1 (for easy-to-bake scones first thing in the morning): refrigerate dry mixture overnight, and preheat oven to 400F in the morning before Step 7.
6. Option 2 (if you want the scones right away): refrigerate dry mixture while mixing up wet ingredients. Preheat oven to 400F.
7. In a medium bowl, lightly whisk or use a fork to beat together 1/2 c whipping cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Remove dry ingredients from refrigerator and drizzle the whipping cream mixture into the dry ingredients and add the frozen berries.
8. Using a spatula or bowl scraper, mix the dough until combined. The dough will be crumbly and a bit sticky.
9. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Lightly flatten into an 8″ disc, ensuring that it is relatively even all the way around.
10. Cut disc into 8 equal wedges, and place them on a lined baking sheet approximately 2″ apart. Brush 1 T whipping cream on top of the scones and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
11. FOR OPTION 2 ONLY: Refrigerate the scones for 15 minutes while preheating the oven to 400F.
12. Bake scones at 400F for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly brown on top.
13. Remove scones from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, while making the glaze.
14. Mix the powdered sugar and lime juice together to make glaze. If you prefer the glaze a little thinner, add more lime juice. If you prefer it thicker, add more powdered sugar.
15. Drizzle the glaze over the slightly cooled scones. Enjoy!

These scones can be kept at room temperature for up to 4 days or frozen and reheated, which is what I usually do, although they never last long in my house. With any zest/berry combination, you can keep the ingredient measurements the same. I’ve also adapted this recipe for lemon poppy seed scones, and the amount of poppy seeds I used is 3 Tbsp, with the same amount of lemon zest and juice required in the recipe.