The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.

The Reason:

I like scones as much as the next guy, but I have to be honest: pastry blenders kind of scare me. Well, it’s not so much that they scare me, it’s just that nothing I do with a pastry blender seems to turn out right. Too complicated to chop butter, too bulky to use as brass knuckles. What’s a boy to do?

So when I came across this recipe that does not use butter, I knew it was a match made in heaven. (Before you get too excited, it more than makes up for that in heavy cream, so you’re not exactly getting away with anything) (Except using a pastry blender)

The Journey:

The recipe calls for strawberries, so we tried that first and it is as good as advertised. However, we have been making this recipe with any kind of fruit we can get our hands on, strawberries, blueberries, and even scavenged mulberries.

It turns out that Chicago is absolutely crawling with mulberries, if you know where to look. In fact, even if you don’t know where to look, you can’t help but stumble upon them. Literally! Because they make the most god-awful, bird-dropping-looking mess all over the sidewalk or your car if you are unlucky enough to park under one.

It turns out we have not one but TWO excellent locations for scavenging mulberries right next to our house; the sidewalk outside of the YMCA and the grass lot surrounding the abandoned fire station. And nobody seems to mind one bit if you steal them.

Evie: “What does that sign say?”
Sara: “No trespassing, violators will be prosecuted.”

That’s right, ILLEGAL mulberries. That’s just how we roll around here. “Kids, it’s okay to ignore the law, as long as it results in delicious scones. Remember that.”

What a pain mulberries are! They are the most stain-y things on god’s green earth, and if you work with them you just have to commit to purple hands for the rest of the day. The first time I actually took all the little stems off, but I will never do THAT again, thank you very much. I couldn’t tell one bit of difference between the scones where I took them off and the ones where I didn’t. So there’s 30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

The Verdict:

I dare you to say to my face that you didn’t like these. Double-dog dare. We CAN NOT stop making them. They are a little moist and a little sweet and a lot wonderful. I would eat them every day. I would force my kids to illegally break and enter on public property to get at the ingredients if I had to.

And don’t forget the most important ingredient: a pinch of photobomb

The Recipe:

Recipe (*very* slightly adapted) from West of the Loop.

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Zest of one orange (used a lemon in a pinch)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup sliced strawberries (or whatever)
• 1 1/2 tsp. Turbinado sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with a parchment paper.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Add the orange zest and the sliced strawberries. Gently toss the strawberries until they are coated in flour.
4. Pour the cream in all at once and stir with a fork until the dough comes together. It will be wet and sticky.
5. Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet with a large spoon, making eight (largish) scones.
6. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. of Turbinado sugar on the top of each scone.
7. Bake until firm and golden brown, about 15 minutes.
8. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.