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Caramelized White Chocolate Peach Scones

Peaches and white chocolate are a perfect pairing for scones. Caramelizing the white chocolate turns it from ordinary to truly special.
Course: Breakfast

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Guittard White Chocolate see notes
  • 3/4 cup half and half half milk and half heavy cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 cups 385g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons sugar plus more for the tops
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 12 tablespoons 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
  • 1 medium peach washed (skins on), pitted and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream for brushing on the tops
  • Lemon Curd for serving (if desired)

Instructions

  • Caramelize the white chocolate: Preheat oven to 275 F. Line a baking sheet with a non-stick silicone baking mat. Spread out white chocolate onto baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until chocolate is shiny and melted.
  • Spread it out with an offset spatula. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, gather up the chocolate and then spread it out with the spatula again, so it is in a thin layer. Repeat this process every 10 minutes until it caramelizes. It will go through a very thick stage and then liquify again. It will look and feel like natural peanut butter that has separated. Keep spreading and working it. It’s a long process, but so worth it. If your chocolate seizes up (gets grainy), you can still use it as is in the recipe. All you need to make sure of is that it's a nice caramel color.
  • Once you have the color you want, let it sit at room temperature to harden. You can do this days ahead. You can now use it in any recipe that calls for white chocolate. It is delicious. For this recipe, break it into smallish pieces.
  • For the scones: Preheat oven to 425 F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  • Add the zest and chilled butter to the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Keep cutting the butter in until most of the butter is worked into the flour, but there are a few pea-sized pieces left.
  • Toss in the white chocolate and peaches. Mix with your hands.
  • Whisk together the half and half with the eggs. Add the liquid to the dry mixture. Use a spoon or your hands to mix. It will be shaggy with some dry patches. Dump it onto the counter.
  • Drizzle a tiny bit more liquid if it’s really dry. Use a bench scraper to fold the dough over itself. Give it about 8 folds total, until it just barely comes together. Dust with a touch of flour. Pat into a disk.
  • Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Brush with cream. It should be about 1-scant-inch thick. Dust with sugar.
  • Use a bench scraper or knife to cut into equal pieces. I went for 8 large scones.
  • Once the oven is at 425 F reduce to 400 F when you put the scones in the oven. Bake until the scones are set in the middle, about 25+ min. If you put fruit in them, they may take a little longer.

Video

Notes

You do not have to caramelize your own chocolate for this recipe. You don't even need to use white chocolate! But if you do, make sure it's good quality chocolate, NOT coating chocolate, or it won’t melt and caramelize properly. Other options: add dried fruit (currants, raisins, cherries, apricots), stone fruits (peaches, plums, apricots), zest, nuts, chocolate (dark, semi, milk), bacon (crispy bacon with chocolate is AWESOME), herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon).
If you don't want to caramelize the chocolate, just toss the white chocolate chips into the scone dough or leave them out altogether.