Cranberry Orange Scones

By Robin Horne

You say teatime, I say scones. Tea with scones is the perfect pick-me-up combination: slightly sweet, lightly fruity, and caffeinated. Both festive and easy to make, scones can be created in endless varieties. You can freeze them either before or after baking, and they taste perfect after a short time in the oven. For a recent tea I wanted a richer flavor. So I made cream scones using heavy cream and egg.

I hasten to add that these are American style scones. I have yet to recreate the light, fluffy round scones I enjoyed in Tenby (Wales) with clotted cream and preserves. These scones are denser, with more butter and sugar. Glazed and loaded with fruit, American scones are typically served on their own. Because they’re cut into wedges instead of rounds, they’re easier and quicker to make, with less chance of overworking the dough, ensuring scones come out tender.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Makes 16 small scones

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2½ tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, frozen
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. orange extract
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. orange zest
• 1 heaping cup frozen cranberries
• Flour for shaping dough
• 1 – 2 tbsp. cream
• 2 tbsp. coarse raw sugar (for sprinkling)
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tbsp. fresh orange juice
• ¾ tsp. orange extract

Set up a workspace for dough by flouring a board or nonstick surface. Whisk together flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Remove butter from freezer and grate with box grater. Immediately add to flour mixture, and rub in butter with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

In a medium bowl, beat egg until foamy and consistent. Stir into egg: ½ cup heavy cream, 1 tsp. orange extract, vanilla extract, and orange zest.

Drizzle wet ingredients over dry, and add frozen cranberries. Fold ingredients together until flour is barely incorporated. Do NOT overmix! Turn dough onto a floured board. Flour hands and work gently into a ball, incorporating any flour not mixed in the bowl. Add a tiny splash of cream if needed. Divide the ball in half with a bench scraper or large knife. You will bake the two halves individually. Shape half of dough into a 5-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges with a bench scraper or large knife, and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Then shape the second half of dough into a 5-inch circle, cut into 8 wedges. If you want to bake them right away, transfer to a second parchment-lined baking sheet, and store in the refrigerator before baking.

Or, to freeze the second half and bake another day, place the scones on a parchment-lined plate and put into the freezer for 1 hour. Then, remove scones from parchment and store in double zip-lock bags. This two-step process prevents scones from sticking to one another.

Remove the baking sheet of scones from the refrigerator. Brush with 1 – 2 tbsp. heavy cream. Sprinkle with coarse raw sugar.

Place baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or so, until lightly browned on tops. Remove to cooling racks and allow to cool before glazing.

To make glaze: in small bowl, stir orange juice and ¾ tsp. orange extract into confectioners’ sugar. Drizzle or brush over scones.

Serve immediately, or store up to 3 days at room temperature.

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