The flakiest apricot & raspberry crème fraîche scones – almost halfway between a scones and a laminated croissant, studded with juicy raspberries and apricots. So easy too! Jump to Recipe
I’m writing this from the cozy window nook of an Oxford cafe, munching on a small piece of home – smashed avocado toast and a steaming flat white. Australian and New Zealand cafe culture is gradually taking over the world, it seems! The view gives it away, looking out onto a narrow, bicycle lined street and the high stone walls of one of the many colleges. Though everyone walks swiftly, bundled up in coats and scarves, spring blossoms are just peeking over the walls and locals tell me that it’s “so warm this week!”. Apparently I’ve arrived in time for the light at the end of a fairly grey winter tunnel.
It’s still at the stage where every street I walk down is new, and every corner reveals something – a row of bright colourful housefronts against the bleak sky, rowers barely rippling the glassy Thames water on a chilly morning, a tiny cake-shop with a window display to rival Ottolenghi. I’m sure that as the jetlag recedes, so will the vague feeling of wobbliness, of flux. Less like a strange non-sightseeing holiday, and more like a stable home base. I’ve found few local cafes, markets and bakeries (priorities, right?), a new gym, and am starting to meet supervisors and get my head around my thesis, so that’s a start. It was similar when I moved to Melbourne four years ago – in any transition, putting down tentative roots and finding routine takes some extra time and patience. It does make me particularly thankful for our online community, not only for the ability to call home so easily, but apps like Instagram make for a very small world.
I do miss my kitchen already though – the tiny, under-utilised and under-equipped college version means porridge and pastas may be the extent of my cooking. I could actually make these apricot & raspberry scones, though – I’m pretty sure you could make them just about anywhere. They were one of my staple recipes all summer long in New Zealand, made frequently in disorganised bach kitchens and eaten sitting out on the deck overlooking the ocean. All you need is a bowl, a freezer, an oven, a box grater, a knife and a spoon. They’re the flakiest scones I’ve ever made – the layers almost remind me of a cross between a croissant and a scone, and the crisp edges and buttery pastry sandwiching juicy summer fruit elevate them out of ordinary ‘scone’ stratosphere.
It’s a recipe barely adapted from The Vanilla Bean Blog, whose recipe I believe was inspired by the Barefoot Contessa and Cook’s Illustrated – all I did was swap the fruit around. Over the summer I tried a few different variations, using both greek yogurt and coconut yogurt in place of the creme fraiche and attempting a few different mixing and folding techniques, but kept coming back to the original recipe. Nothing was quite as perfect. The main things that set it apart from my usual scone recipes are the frozen butter, which is then grated as a frozen block into the flour, and the letter fold and roll technique. Both are essential to achieving those flaky layers – the frozen butter keeps everything cold, even in a humid summer kitchen, and grating achieves those thin shards that you’d never quite be able to do by rubbing it in by hand without creating mush. The folding technique is easier than it looks – a letter like thirds fold, then a five minute rest in the freezer, then a roll to incorporate the fruit in a way that is the least destructive to the pastry. Almost like a easy version of the letter folds you’d do to make flaky pastry or croissants. I’m not sure I could ever go back to scones that don’t do this. Give it a try – I’d love to know what you think!
You could also change the fruit around depending on what time of year it is – given that I’ve just moved to winter, I’m considering a pear and chocolate version next.
Barely adapted from The Vanilla Bean Blog
- 170 g unsalted butter, frozen as a whole piece
- 2 cups flour (284g)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup creme fraiche (130g)
- 1 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 2-3 apricots (just ripe but not very soft as they get squashed))
- a few tablespoons cream for brushing
- 1/4 cup demerara sugar for sprinkling
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If you haven’t already, put your 170g block of butter in the freezer to freeze solid, at least 20 minutes or as far ahead as you can remember to.
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Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
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In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, white sugar and salt.
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In another bowl, whisk together the creme fraiche, vanilla essence and eggs.
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Grate the butter on the big holes of a box grater and add to the flour. Toss together with your fingers until the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour - you don’t need to crumble the butter in or make the pieces any smaller.
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Add the egg mix to the flour mix and use a large spoon to mix and fold gently until just combined but still a bit crumbly.
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Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and bring together with your hands, kneading gently a couple of times, until it forms a ball and is no longer crumbly.
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Roll the dough out into a roughly 30cm square. Fold the dough in thirds (like a business letter) vertically, and then again horizontally, to make a 10cm square. Transfer to a plate and chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
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Meanwhile, prep the fruit by halving and remove the apricot stones, and the cutting them into about 6 pieces per half.
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Bring the chilled scone dough back from the freezer, and again roll out into a 30 cm square. Scatter the apricots and raspberries over the dough and press in gently.
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Using a bench scraper or spatula and your hands, roll the dough up into a cylinder, keeping the fruit fixed in place. Roll the cylinder so it is seam side down, and then using the rolling pin to press into a 30cm x 10cm rectangle (see photos).
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Use a sharp knife to cut the rectangle into 8 triangles (it’s easiest to do 4 rectangles, then cut each rectangle diagonally into a triangle).
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Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
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Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
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Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before digging in!
That will definitely be my next baking try! All the best for you in Oxford and keep on posting those mouthwatering recipes.
Gorgeous! Would love to know how thick to roll them out to. Thank you!!
Smashed avocado toast and a steaming flat white is my ideal breakfast! These scones are also an ideal breakfast. This post is gorgeous.
I love that these are able to be made in any kitchen and they look sooooo delicious!
ok WOW. seriously delish. Love this method for scones – brilliant!
CK
These look marvellous! Would tinned apricots work do you think? Fresh ones here in the U.K. Are generally a total disappointment, even when they’re in season. And hello in Ixford, I’m just down the road in rural Oxfordshire!
Thanks Mairi! Lovely to hear from you. I’d be a bit worried that tinned apricots would be too wet/soft and syrupy. You could try cutting them into chunks and freezing them before you add them to the dough to firm them up, or else sub in something seasonal (like pear & chocolate, or just use frozen blueberries and raspberries) and make them with apricots or other stonefruit when they are around. That’s a shame to hear even in season they’re a bit disappointing though! Hopefully they’d be improved by cooking. I’m loving being in Oxford so far – especially with all the spring blossoms!
These are gorgeous and love the idea of grating the frozen butter. I can see how that helps create the flakiness. Yum! And I’m sure you’ll get acclimated soon enough. Can’t wait to read more about your adventures in the UK!
When you get sick of that tiny kitchen, you’re welcome to come and use my tiny kitchen! haha. I adapted Mum’s scone recipe a while back to incorporate the folding technique – she would probably have kittens if she ever saw me do it, but it’s just so yum! Hope all is well there xx
It’s looking colourful!! I love the combination; raspberry increase the attraction , Thanks for sharing such a delicious and healthy dessert recipe!
I made these lovely treats this morning and they were perfect: airy, buttery, delicious and neither heavy nor oversweet as American scones are (I’m an Aussie expat in the USA). But they blew up like little balloons! I’m wondering whether I over (under?) did the hands-off technique…how do I ensure they look nice and neat like yours?
Hi Amanda! Hm I’m not exactly sure why that happened – potentially when you roll the log into a rectangle you could try pressing it down more firmly so the layers don’t puff quite as much. And then just check raising agent quantities as well, but there is nothing else I can think of. Glad you enjoyed them though despite their appearance!
I prepared whole recipe – looked perfect! Then put into my preheated 200 degree F oven…not converting (I’m in US)- so after 20 minutes they were not done. Realized mistake- made conversion to about 400F and baked about another 15 min. They look delicious but the butter melted – so will have to pay attention next time. The cups and tablespoons didn’t make me think about converting either! They are cooling as we speak- fingers crossed!
Hi Michelle! Hope it worked out anyway – yes I use celsius, sorry about that. Hopefully you get a chance to try them again at the right temperature!
Beautiful recipe, and story. I live in Berkeley , love to make. Do you have standard measurements, the butter threw me. Thanks Suzi
Hi Suzi! Thank you. I use metric measurements, but there are conversion calculators online that you can use for the butter e.g. https://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/butter_converter.html depending on whether you want sticks or ounces. hope that helps!