One of my favorite family memories is visiting the Garden View Team Room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. It’s a go-to for us whenever we visit, to enjoy the easy atmosphere, warm tea, and delicious treats. It’s where I was first introduced to scones, and I would smother them with so much jam and clotted cream, we’d ask for extra. This recipe is inspired by those afternoons. I am transported back there with each bite of these vanilla English-style scones and strawberry cream.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission if you click through and buy something, at no additional cost to you!
Can you believe this is the first scone recipe I’m posting? The blog is called Slumber & Scones, but I haven’t actually even made that many scones since launching. I knew that I wanted to go with English-style scones for my first recipe. I have always loved them more than American-style scones, although both have their merits.
For this recipe, I decided to stick to a fairly basic scone recipe, adding just a little bit of vanilla bean paste for flavor. It’s with the topping that I played around a little bit. Normally, a scone would be served with clotted cream and jam. I sort of combined those together by making this strawberry cream.
I love the taste of traditional clotted cream, but it’s not really made here in the US. Instead, we can get it imported, but that gets wildly expensive. While trying to duplicate the flavor, I accidentally that if I mix a big spoonful of mascarpone cheese into fresh whipped cream, it tastes a little more like clotted cream. For these, I added the juice of sugared strawberries as well.
Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits. They are in season here in the summer. But in Florida, they are in season right now, in the winter. My local grocery stores in upstate NY sometimes get shipments from the Florida farms, and it’s my favorite surprise. The berries are just sweeter and juicier than what’s sent from further away. If you’re on the east coast and see Florida strawberries in your store these next couple week, be sure to pick some up!
Tips to Make Vanilla Bean Scones
When you’re making these, there are a few details to keep in mind. First, when mixing the ingredients and kneading, be careful not to over-mix. This can cause the scones to be denser and chewier, instead of fluffy. When you ad the wet ingredients to the dry, make a well, and then push the flour into the milk mixture. This way you won’t have to stir as much to incorporate everything.
When cutting the scones, you can use a biscuit or cookie cutter, which is ideal since they are design to cleanly cut through this type of dough. However, if you don’t have one on hand, you can use a glass. Choose one with a fine rim to make a cleaner cut, such as a high quality wine glass or stemless wine glass.
Last, the strawberry cream will be very subtly pink. However, if you want it to pop even more, you can add some gel food coloring. Gel works well here because it doesn’t destabilize the cream, and it tends to create a saturated color. Bright pink cream can be really fun for Valentine’s Day!
Vanilla Bean English-Style Scones with Strawberry Cream
Ingredients
Vanilla Bean Scones
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour plus more for kneading
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 2 Eggs
- 2/3 cup Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Strawberry Cream
- 3/4 cup Strawberries hulled and quartered, plus more for serving
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- 2 Tbsp Mascarpone Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 with a rack in the top third. Line a baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle with flour.
- Add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and sugar to a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse until incorporated, and the mixture resembles coarse sand. Transfer to a medium bowl.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, add the milk, eggs, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk until the eggs are broken up and the vanilla bean paste is fully incorporated. In a small dish, set aside 2 Tbsp of this mixture for later.
- Add the rest of the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Transfer to a floured surface and gently knead a few times. The dough will be sticky, but should be manageable. Add more flour as needed if it's too liquidy, but don't add enough to dry out the dough.
- Flatten or roll the dough to be about 3/4 inch thick. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or glass to cut out rounds. Dip the cutter in flour before each round. Press straight down and try not to twist too much.
- Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and bake 10-14 minutes, until golden brown. They should rise to double or triple their height, but if they don't they will still taste delicious. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the scones are baking, add the strawberries and sugar to a small bowl and mix until coated. Let sit for at least ten minutes to macerate. Then, using a pastry blender or potato masher, puree the strawberries.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add the cream. Mix using the whisk attachment, starting on low and gradually increasing the speed to high, to avoid splashing. Once soft peaks form, add in the mascarpone, and then mix for another minute. Add in the strawberry puree and mix until stiff peaks form, and the cream doesn't drip off the whisk when removed.
- Serve the scones halved with a big spoonful of the cream and fresh strawberries, if desired. These are best served immediately. Store the whole scones in a sealed bag at room temperature for 1-2 days. Store the cream covered in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Special Equipment
- Food Processor
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Cookie Sheets
- Colorful Dishes: Large Plates, Small Plates, Small Bowls
Oh my gosh! I want to make these right now! (That’s what I get for reading this while hungry ;)) But these look amazing. Saving for later.
Haha, thank you! I can’t browse recipes when hungry either or I just end up wanting to make everything. I hope you get the chance to try these!
I’m definitely saving this recipe to make later. I’m a sucker for English-style scones and anything with strawberries and cream. These sound beyond delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
I hope you love it! I agree that scones and strawberries and cream are totally my weaknesses as well. You pretty much can’t go wrong with that combo at all.
Yum! These look amazing. Unfortunately, I am gluten-free and dairy-free for me:/ Is there an easy way to make an alternative?
I haven’t tried, but I hear that Bob’s Red Mill makes a pretty good gluten free flour mix that works pretty well. For the strawberry cream, you could try whipping up some coconut cream instead, and still mixing in the macerated strawberries. I bet that would be pretty tasty!
Never realized there were two types of scones! Will definitely have to try out this recipe. It sounds lovely!
It took me a little bit to try and figure out why the coffee shop scones just weren’t right but I’m glad that mystery is solved. I hope you enjoy!
Kait, these look incredible! I also wanted to say that your pictures are beautiful and make me want to try these out! 🙂
Thank you! One of my favorite parts of this blog is getting to style and take the photos, so I love hearing that.
These look delicious! I love a scone, as does my daughter, so I’ll see if she wants to make these with me! Thanks for fb recipe x
Thank you! I hope that you and your daughter enjoy. It’s definitely a fun recipe to make together.
Beautiful pictures! Looks so tempting. definitely saving this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much! I hope you get a chance to try and love them.
The best part of marrying a food blogger is when there’s enough to share. Certified yum.
The best part of marrying a guy with a sweet tooth is I don’t have to eat all the treats myself. Thanks!
Oh, they look so good!
I never had proper scones before. I mean, I tried to make some myself, but I’m not sure it was the perfect recipe.
Scones can be a little finicky, but they are so tasty and worth it when you get it right. I hope you love them!
I LOVE scones and I’ve made them twice now so I’m interested in trying more recipes – this one for sure with the strawberry cream! Garden View Tea room at Disney is a great place. I actually had afternoon tea there my last trip before the pandemic in late February 2020. Such good memories!
It calls for eggs but am I missing how many eggs? Eggs are not listen in the ingredient list.
Thanks for letting me know! It’s 2 eggs in this recipe. I am updating the card now.