Orange cranberry scones

Let’s imagine for a second that we live in a world where “what if” scenarios are somewhat realistic. And if in that world someone posed a question “what if you can only bake one thing for the rest of your life?” then scones would be pretty high on the list of contestants. The flavour combinations are essentially endless. The individual and optional add-ons are adaptable according to everyone’s taste. And most importantly the entire process of putting them together from scratch rarely takes more than 30 minutes. This is of course largely because there is no need to get the ingredients to room temperature. Scones are one of the perfect answers to spontaneous baking. So orange cranberry scones this time, with hopefully many more variations to follow later.

I added rice flour to this recipe which gives an interesting grainy-in-a-good-way texture to the scone and I highly recommend it but if you don’t have rice flour then just use plain. As mentioned, don’t get anything out of the fridge early, in fact, the colder – the better. And while purists might argue that scones are supposed to be rolled out, I prefer scooping because it reduces the prep time and avoids overworking the dough during the rolling out process.

Orange cranberry scones ingredients:

For the scones:

• 1c white flour
• 1c rice flour
• 1/8c sugar
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 1tsp salt
• zest of 1 orange
• 170g cold butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2c cooking cream (20%)
• 1/2c dried cranberries

For the glaze:

• 1/4c powdered sugar
• 2tbsp fresh orange juice

Directions:

1. Firstly preheat your oven to 205C (400F). Then combine 1c white and 1c rice flour, 1/8c sugar, 1tbsp baking powder, 1tsp salt, zest of 1 orange and 170g cold butter in a mixer bowl.
2. Blend on low until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. As far as scone making goes, if you are going to over-process anything, now is the time to do it.
3. Meanwhile, mix 1/2c cooking cream and 2 large eggs and lightly whisk.
4. Then add the combined cream and eggs to the flour mixture and stir on low until just combined without over-mixing.
5. Lightly and quickly stir in 1/2c dried cranberries.
6. Using a tablespoon scoop the scones onto a lined baking sheet.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
8. While the scones are baking, prepare the orange glaze by combining 1/4c powdered sugar and 2tbsp fresh orange juice.
9. Once the scones are baked, drizzle a bit of orange glaze over the tops. (I glaze them as soon as they are out of the oven because it means there is no extra waiting time and they can be enjoyed hot. Additionally I actually prefer the glaze penetrating the scones and flavouring them further. If you prefer glaze as more of a topping then you will have to let the scones cool completely.)

As with most things, these scones are best eaten right away but will still taste great for a few days afterwards.

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