Cape Cod Inspired Berry Scones

This past week, the husband and I vacationed with his family up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We look forward to this week all year, always taking full advantage of the beach, bike paths and the local ice cream shop as soon as we arrive. Aside from the great seafood and quintessential lobster rolls, Cape Cod also boasts some serious antique shops. An overcast day was the perfect excuse for us to leave the beach and hit up the Antiques Center of Cape Cod. One could find a reason to buy everything in there, but the vintage cookbooks and packaging is what I really couldn't get enough of. 

Take a look at the gorgeous typography on the antique tins. Don't you wish vanilla extract still came in packaging that looked liked this?

After a long day of indulging my hoarding tendencies at the antique shop, we visited the Sesuit Harbor in Dennis for lobster rolls and gorgeous water views.

And now...on to the baking. I wanted to make something with all the ripe blueberries we had in the kitchen; plus, scones are always an easy crowd pleaser. I'm actually really glad I revisited my Orange Dark Chocolate Chip scone recipe (which needed some tweaking) because I was able to swap the orange and chocolate chunks for all of those fresh summer berries the Cape had to offer. I made one batch with my original scone recipe and wasn't really pleased with the texture. After reducing the amount of butter in the recipe, I was finally satisfied. Now you can use this recipe and swap the orange and chocolate for berries, raisins or even more chocolate. 

Berry Scones
makes 12 scones

INGREDIENTS
4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sliced strawberries
3/4 cup blueberries
3/4 cup raspberries
2 tablespoons raw sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the egg and all but about 3 tablespoons of the heavy cream.

3. Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients and use your hands or a pastry cutter to combine the mixture until the butter forms into small pea-sized clumps. Making sure not to overwork the dough, slowly pour the cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together. Toss in the berries and mix.

4. Lightly flour a work surface and divide the dough into two separate balls. Flatten the dough balls into disks (about 2 inches high). Cut each disk into 6 wedges and place the wedges on the baking sheet. Do not crowd the scones as they will spread slightly when baking. Brush each wedge with the remaining heavy cream and sprinkle with the raw sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops and edges are golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.