Sunny Sunday Afternoon Shortcake!

Yu-u-ummm!  Fresh sweet scones with rare (and by "rare" I mean "just barely into their California season") ripe April organic strawberries and freshly whipped and sweetened Organic Valley cream made our Sunday afternoon of celebrating the life and times of the Easter Bunny very enjoyable.  (Say that five times fast!)

Why organic?  Read this (Don't look if you don't want to know.  No, wait - LOOK!)  

Scones:

2-1/2c flour (I used 1c of whole wheat and 1c unbleached white all-purpose)
1/3c sugar
1Tbsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 lg egg
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2c whole milk or 1/2 'n 1/2

eggwash: 1 additional egg and a Tbsp or so of milk

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Cut butter into flour mix with a pastry blender until course crumbs result.  "Coarse crumbs" means you'll see pea-shaped balls intermixed with even smaller balls, as well as "dust."  Beat the egg, add the milk and vanilla.  Add wet to dry, mix until blended.  Dump out onto a lightly floured surface and play with it until it's easy to shape into a round disc.  Flatten to, say, 1" thickness.

Cut disc into 6 or 8 wedges.  Place each wedge on a non-stick cookie sheet or parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush the top of each with eggwash.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

Top with a dollop of freshly whipped, sweetened cream and layer with fresh, sugared strawberries.  Hint: macerating fresh berries with a couple Tbsp of sugar and a teeny pinch of salt will provide you with lots of juices.  Let sit in fridge for at least an hour (longer is better) for juices to develop!