Giant Chocolate Chips Scones

I have now been up since 3:55 in the morning and I am still watching coverage of the Royal Wedding. And I continue to try and figure out how to incorporate the words 'betwixt' and 'troth' in my daily vocabulary.

It took me about three days after Prince William and Catherine announced their engagement to decide to take off work on the day of their wedding. It took about two more days to confirm that I would spend the morning watching TV and enjoying a real British breakfast. It took about two seconds - after Googling "English Breakfast" - that I decided I should rethink this plan since baked beans and toast are not as refined as I was hoping.

Then, it was announced that the wedding would begin at 11 am. London time. I admit, after doing the math, I thought that this fun-filled plan might not be the best idea. But no, as a real-life-princess (Just ask my father. And Robbie. They will confirm my status.), I had to stay committed to the future Princess Catherine. So, I roped my parents into going to the beach for a long weekend for our own celebration (Robbie, meanwhile, is studying copyrights, securities regulations and other fun topics). We had English muffins, tea, strawberries and cream* and of course, scones. As I understand it, British scones tend to be dainty and petite and include something healthy like dried fruit and lemon zest. In light of this, I Americanized them by tripling their size and filling them with chocolate.

*A note on strawberries and cream. If you have never had strawberries and cream, you must go to the store immediately, pick up some heavy cream, slice some strawberries and have a bowl. Now I understand what all the fuss is about at Wimbledon. The sweet strawberries combined with the rich cream create this thick, delicious bowl of richness. It makes anyone feel like royalty. And will make you wonder why anyone would have 2% milk when you can have 36%.

Giant Dark Chocolate Chip Scones
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

3¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups (about 12-oz) package dark chocolate chips
2 cups chilled heavy cream (may need an additional splash of cream)
melted butter for brushing on top
Additional sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Stir together flour, ½ a cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl (make sure it’s a fairly large bowl and, ideally, a little shallower than normal so you can do all of the kneading, flattening and cutting in one place). Pour cream into flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are moistened. Add a bit more if needed to completely incorporate the flour. At this point, you can turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead gently. I did this in the same bowl, kneading for about two minutes with flour-dusted hands until a soft dough forms. Flatten the ball into a circle and cut into 8 triangles. Transfer triangles to prepared baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake about 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.