Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200 °C). Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.
Chop the cold butter into cubes, then dump it into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Work it into the flour rubbing/pressing gently until the mixture ressembles a coarse crumble and the flour has changed colour slightly.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream and the egg. Pour it over the buttery dry ingredients in the large bowl and mix it into the bowl. You can also use your hands. The dough will be sticky.
Generously flour your work surface and then scrape the scone dough onto it. Pat flour over the surface of the dough as you pat it out. Dump the chopped chocolate and the pear chunks onto the dough and using a big pastry scraper, fold the dough onto itself like a letter. This will be messy, and a little sticky, but don't worry. Use a little flour if you need to. Press and fold a couple times to get the chocolate and pears into the scone dough, using a little flour if necessary. You don't want to overwork or over-handle the dough, and you don't want to incorporate too much flour.
You can either use a very large cookie or ice cream scooper (like this on Amazon) to form divide the scones OR pat the dough out to a 1 inch thickness and cut out circles with a floured 2.5 inch cookie cutter. Place on parchment-lined sheets. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado. Gently pat together scraps to cut out as many scones as you can. You will probably get 10 to 12 scones.
Bake the scones one sheet at a time in middle of oven for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the sheet after about 20 minutes.Feel free to brush the scones with more melted butter and sprinkle with more turbinado when they come out of the oven.
Notes
I baked these muffins with Cacao Barry Ocoa chocolate, which you can find at IGA grocery stores in Quebec, or online at Vanilla Food Company.
Freeze the cooled freshly baked scones on a parchment-lined sheet until frozen through, then transfer to a freezer bag to store.
Reheat frozen scones at 350ºF for a good 10 minutes to warm them through.