Today I am sharing a simple recipe for orange cream scones. These scones are delicious and rich and loaded with cranberries. Great for breakfast or for your afternoon tea.
I must admit that this is my first time making scones…I always liked the flavor of scones, but not really the texture…maybe because every time I purchased scones, they were “old” or who knows how they “beat them up”…therefore I never could really understand what was the big deal with scones. Even my husband did not get very excited when I told him that I was planning to bake scone, he was like…”Why? They are so heavy and flavorless…”, well, I was able to prove him wrong with this recipe…after searching for literally dozens of recipes and reading the “what to do”and “what not to do”, I decided to merge a few versions into this recipe…and I must admit, it is so simple and easy to come up with a light, fluffy, moist scone with a thin layer of crispness…
I based this recipe from mainly this two sites…cookbook 365 and Splendid Table.
You can be very creative and you can “color” it the way you like by adding whatever fresh or dry fruit of your preference or other ingredients such as candy ginger, chocolate. You can use buttermilk instead of cream. You can make it savory by adding cheese, bacon, chives, olives…and spice it up with curry, oregano, you name it…so let your imagination float and color your scones the way you want.
By the way, these scones will be great for Easter brunch…
Ingredient:
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp fresh orange zest
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 60 g cold unsalted butter, cut into approximately 12-mm cubes
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 60 g cranberry
- Enough heavy cream to brush scones
- Crystal sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Cut the butter and place in the freezer while you are measuring the other ingredients.
Measure the cream and add the egg and vanilla extract, keep in the refrigerator until needed.
In a food processor bowl, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Pulse for a few times.
Add the butter pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal and no pieces of butter are larger than a pea.
Pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture, and pulse until a dough forms.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly flour surface. Add the cranberry and gently kneading it onto itself for a few times. Do not over mix or knead…gently fold the dough.
Pat the dough into circle of 2 cm thick. Cut the circle first into half, then into quarters until you reach 8 slices. Place the scone gently in a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Let it rest for approximately 1 hour.
When ready to bake, brush the top of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle the top with crystal sugar.
Bake for approximately 15 to 18 minutes, until the scones are slightly golden. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.
Allow the scones to sit in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool
Serve warm. Store the “leftover” scones in the freezer for later enjoyment.
To warm the frozen scones, place the scones in a 350F preheated oven for about 5 minutes.
If you enjoy this simple recipe for Orange Cream Scone you might want to check on Bacon, Cheese Green Onion Scone recipe.
