Blackberry Stuffed Scones

Heat your oven to 400F. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, quickly work the butter pieces into the flour mixture until you have a mixture that resembles clumpy sand with some pea-size pieces of butter still remaining.

Whisk together the egg with ¾ cup of the cream and the vanilla extract. Pour this into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber scraper just enough to bring everything together into a soft dough. Some of the dry bits probably won’t be incorporated.

Use your hands to gather the dough and the remaining dry bits together into a ball and knead it just a couple of times. On a surface that is as lightly floured as you can get away with, pat (or roll) the dough into a rectangle that’s about 12X8 inches.

Brush some of the remaining cream onto half of the dough rectangle, then sprinkle this half evenly with the blackberries, lemon zest, and 2 Tbs. sugar. Fold the other half of the dough over the top of the half with the berries, and press the two sides gently together, especially around the edges.

Brush the top with the remaining cream and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Then, use a very sharp knife to divide this berry-stuffed dough log into 8 individual scones – you can make them into squares or triangles, your pick. Use a spatula to transfer the scones to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake until the scones are puffed and golden and deeply browned around the edges, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 or 15 minutes before eating. Scones are always best fresh, but they can be kept for a day or two and reheated in the oven. They also freeze and reheat pretty well.