Line a baking pan with a piece of parchment paper and set aside.In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together until fragrant and sandy.Whisk in the remaining dry ingredients.

Toss the cold butter cubes into the bowl of dry ingredients and use your hands or a pastry cutter to smush them into pea-sized pieces.Add and toss in the fresh, sliced strawberries.

In a large liquid measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until the sourdough discard is completely dissolved.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and use a fork to toss it all together.The scone dough will be quite scraggly and dry at first, but should start to form large clumps. It's okay if floury spots remain.

Dump the scone dough out onto a clean countertop.Using a bench scraper, bring the dough together into a mass as much as you can (it'll still be pretty dry but will come together as you continue to work it).Cut the dough into quadrants (quarters) and stack them on top of each other. This will help create many flaky layers!Use floured hands or your bench scraper to press down on the layers of dough back into a round mass. Repeat the cutting, stacking, and pressing down one more time and pat it down into an 8-inch round, about 1 ½ inches high. Only add more flour or heavy cream as necessary.Then, use your bench scraper to cut the scones into 8 wedges.Place your scones on the prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.*

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC).When preheated, brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle raw sugar on top of the scones.Place the scones into the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 400ºF. The initial blast of heat will help them rise taller.Bake at 400ºF (204ºC) for 21-23 minutes, or until the scones are dark golden brown.Cool on a wire baking sheet as you make the strawberry glaze.

To make the optional strawberry glaze, pulverize the freeze-dried strawberries in a spice grinder or small food processor into a powder.Transfer to a bowl with the powdered sugar and mix with a spoon. Then, slowly drizzle in heavy cream until you have a thick but pourable consistency.Drizzle the glaze on top of the cooled scones and enjoy!