Blueberry White Chocolate + Thyme Scones

August 26, 2014

blueberry white chocolate & thyme scones | une gamine dans la cuisine

Summer held its breath until the 13th hour. Finally, upon exhalation, the weather is sticky, languid as molasses...deliciously perfect. I'm odd to relish humidity and that spot on the small of the back which never completely dries during (and after) meandering through a non-air conditioned farm house. But I am in love with summer, even especially during her passionate fits of temper. Yesterday was particularly ethereal + lush; a spirited mix of hazy sunlight and distant reverberating thunder. My red entry door, now flushed and expanded with heat, brushes fiercely against the sisal rug. I find wicked amusement in hearing people huff and occasionally curse when, upon swift entry, they're met by an immobile rug + a pregnant door. It's also proving to be an excellent alarm system and gives me ample time to hide baked goods from prying hands. Sometimes the most exhausting element of food blogging is simply keeping people (and photobombing cats) away long enough to snap pictures.
    
My next recipe, if I can stop eating the star player, will be a raspberry something. For now, as you can see, I'm still riding the sanguine blueberry wave. Scones don't require too much baking sorcery but they are difficult to photograph. No worries, I will not bore you with more photography angst, but I hope it's okay to experiment with both light & dark backgrounds/moods. My cheeky heart inadvertently strays to the dark side, but I'm attempting to build bridges with the bright and airy.

blueberry white chocolate & thyme scones | une gamine dans la cuisine

Scones, while a breeze to conjure up, can sometimes be dry. I've found that heavy cream holds the skeleton key to tender scone-age. These scones were sublime - soft and almost biscuit-like in texture (not the stick-in-your-throat, kind of biscuit).

Since I'm soliciting the lighter things in life, I thought I'd reintroduce myself to white chocolate. In the past I have given sweet white chocolate the frozen shoulder, favouring its effete, dark counterpart. But, when balanced properly with tart-ish flavours, white chocolate can be scrumptious. This recipe utilizes plucky blueberries and hints of earthy thyme to counteract the chocolate's sweetness and, because of the chunky, already-sweet, ingredients, you only need a small amount of sugar.

If you can keep the scones around long enough, they age beautifully. Well-covered and at room temperature, these confections are even more flavourful and tender on day three. If you can't find blueberries, toss in the same amount of raspberries or blackberries...and please let me know the verdict on either!

blueberry white chocolate & thyme scones | une gamine dans la cuisine

blueberry white chocolate + thyme scones
makes about 7-8 scones

ingredients
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar (feel free to use more, but bear in mind the inherent sweetness of white chocolate)
2 sprigs of thyme, finely chopped, stems removed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup (that's 1 stick) unsalted butter, cold & cut into 1-inch cubes
4 oz good quality white chocolate, chopped 
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

garnish
1 large egg, lightly beaten

method
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. {Note: you might need two sheets as the scones are large and spread quite a bit.}

In a small bowl, lightly beat together cream and egg yolks; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and chopped thyme. Use your fingertips to rub the thyme into sugar until aromatic. Whisk in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the cold butter cubes and, using a pastry blender, work butter into dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and pebbly (butter pieces should be the size of peas and oatmeal).

Add chopped white chocolate + blueberries and gently toss into butter/flour mixture until coated. Add the cream + egg mixture and, very gently, fold wet ingredients into dry until you're left with a sticky, ragged ball. {Note: try not to overmix the dough. It should be very sticky and fussy...and difficult to work with. Your reward will be tender scones.}

Place dough in center of prepared, parchment lined, sheet. Pat into a 6 1/2 - 7-inch circle, and using a sharp knife, cut out 7-8 slices of dough. (Dough is extremely sticky so you might need a spatula to separate the wedges.) Arrange scones on sheet, allowing for at least 3-inches of spreading room between each wedge. Brush scones with beaten egg.

Bake 11-14 minutes or until scones are light golden brown and centers are set (use a toothpick to test for doneness).

Remove sheet from oven and allow scones to rest for about five minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Cool completely before enjoying.

Blueberry White Chocolate + Thyme Scones :: gamine dans la cuisine


40 comments:

  1. I've been waiting for this post ever since you shared a teaser on Instagram. It is absolutely gorgeous and I would eat each and everyone of them with tea/coffee!

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    1. Thanks, Nik! Feel free to drop by with coffee, anytime. :D

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  2. Gorgeously plump scones, I'm smitten with the union of blueberries and white chocolate!

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  3. I have raspberries and I really REALLY want to make these!!

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    1. Rachel, please let me know if decide to use the raspberries in this recipe...and share, too!! :D

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    2. Oh, I made them (with raspberries). I had to eat 2 of them in a row to make sure they were as delicious as I thought. :)

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    3. hehe! I'm happy you liked the raspberry rendition!! (I won't say how many I enjoyed after the photoshoot.) :P

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  4. Just the recipe for white chocolate, I love it. Scones capture the season so well, and I'll hold onto blueberry days a little longer with this!

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  5. That thyme is the perfect ephemeral touch to foil the chocolate. I'm not a scone devotee, but I might have to give these a chance. You should also know that I've somehow fallen even more in love with your photography, now that your intertwining the two auras. They give off such a nice, vintage feel. Anyway, these look perfect as a last-days-of-summer-treat. Thank you!

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    1. Meghan, thank you for the lovely comment!! I often stumble over self esteem issues when it comes my food photography...it's delicious to hear sweet things about its fickle nature. xoxo

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  6. Beautiful scones! They look fabulously plump and extremely delicious.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  7. I had a war time with scones, they refused to look good for me, but now it's over, I think I had so many failures that I'm done for life ;) I like scones so much and I like this little yummy trick in yours :)

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    1. hehe! Scones do put up quite a fight when it comes to their time on camera. I must have snapped about 100 + photos and I'm still not completely satisfied with the results. Thankfully we can eat our disappointment. ;-)

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  8. Your scones look wonderful, and I'm sure they'd be equally terrific, regardless of the fruit you use.
    And I agree with you on the most exhausting element of food blogging. Sometimes it seems like I'm running as fast as I can, just to stay ahead of the samplers!

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    1. Grabby, greedy hands. Everywhere! Sometimes I have to lock the door to the room I'm using for photos...or toss out a few mutant pastries to the lions. :P

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  9. Love the recipe and also prefer the dark background for your photography!

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    1. Thanks for the input, Johanne! (I'm leaning towards the dark too, but still playing around...) :)

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  10. I've always thought scones were meant to be eaten as soon as they're out of the oven - I never knew they would improve with time, Valerie!
    Your scones look beautiful, I love anything with blueberries.

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    1. Thanks, Patricia! It was a pleasant surprise to discover three day old, scrumptious scones!! Although I think most of it has to do with my ultra-humid kitchen. :D

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  11. This combination of flavors sounds amazing! Something I would happily pull out of the oven on a rainy day. I'm not a big fan of white chocolate either but there are places where it works pretty well. This definitely is one.

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    1. Thank you, Sini! White chocolate can have its day in the spotlight, given the right costars! :)

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  12. These scones are just so gorgeous Valerie! I am swooning so hard right now.

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  13. Um.. all this humidity is killin' mah hairdo, buuuuut, not my appetite for the perfect scones with WHITE CHOCOLATE! So, life is fair.

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    1. Humidity is not hair friendly but I'll take it over winter's static-cling hair, any day. :D
      Thanks for the Pin, Katerina!!

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  14. These scones look and sound amazing! These are on my must make list. Hope you have a great weekend!

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  15. Oooh, yum! These look fantastic. :)

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  16. I made my own version of your scones with blackberries and mentioned your inspiration but did not know how to do a ping back....... Here is the link id you would like to read how I made my scones. http://wp.me/p44vKr-WA

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    1. Johanne, your scones are gorgeous!! I love the white chocolate glaze. :D

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    2. These are beautiful, and so simple! So many scone recipes these days are needlessly complicated, I'm always glad to see something so straightforward that uses great ingredients

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  17. I love these scones look absolutely delicious! I wanna make soon!

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  18. I just bought a bar of Green & Black's white chocolate after months of shunning it. I prefer the dark variety also but I have to say that I did quite enjoy it. In a scone, one of my favorite things in the world, paired with blueberries (another favorite thing), I bet this is heaven.

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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