eat make read

I am a lover of scones. I would pick a scone over a muffin any day. There’s just something about their buttery heft that makes my taste buds do a little dance. I’ve made them before and they’ve turned out pretty good (although sometimes they end up looking like a puddle of a scone). But I’m always on the lookout for something better and let me tell you, I have found the best scone recipe known to man. This is no joke my friends.

But let’s back up for a second. All this scone madness started because I found some blood oranges on sale at the store and I just needed to make something with them. I like to start the weekend out with something tasty, so I came up with the idea of scones with candied orange peel and dried cherries. Sounds delicious, right? Well candying orange peel is a little time consuming and in hindsight, may have been a little ambitious. That’s not to say it wasn’t fun or tasty, because it was both, but for morning baking, it may be a bit much for some people.

Once I’d candied the orange peels, I let them cool for a bit and got started on the dough. I found this recipe over on Smitten Kitchen, but it’s originally from America’s Test Kitchen… that’s like double satisfaction guaranteed. And as an added bonus, it’s super easy to make. The key, I believe, is butter temperature. Keep it cold. I actually pre-cut my butter and then put it in the freezer while I mixed the other ingredients together. Once the dough was mixed together, I kneaded it for a minute or so and then pressed it into a square baking sheet to give it shape and then flipped it onto the counter. I like my scones triangular, so I cut it into four squares and then cut a diagonal line in each square to create 8 scones. Then into the oven they went.

My stomach was growling and luckily in only a mere 15 minutes the scones had baked to a flaky golden hue. Oh the restraint I showed waiting for those puppies to cool. Well, the time came to try them out and as you may have guessed, they are the most excellent scones ever! They are the perfect combination of a moist, buttery biscuit with hints of orange goodness and then of course you’ll bite into a cherry every now and then. Really, I just can’t say enough about how perfect they are. So behold, the best scone recipe that you will ever need.

Blood Orange & Cherry Cream Scones
adapted via smitten kitchen via America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 Tablespoons candied orange peel, chopped*, **
1 cup heavy cream

1
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
2
Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3
If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in dried cherries.
If using food processor,remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add dried cherries and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.
4
Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
5
Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form scones by pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper.
6
Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*Ok, so about the candied orange peels. They are good, but if you’d rather skip that, I think you could just use the same amount of orange zest. I haven’t tried this, but i feel confident that it will provide you with a similar orange flavor, you just won’t have the little chunks in the scone.

Candied Orange Peel
adapted from epicurious

2 Blood oranges
1 cup sugar, divided
3/4 cup water

1
Using vegetable peeler, remove orange part of peel from orange in long strips.
2
Stir 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add orange peel; simmer 15 minutes.
3
Place remaining 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl. Using slotted spoon, remove peel from syrup and transfer to sugar. Toss to coat. Cool, tossing occasionally. Cover bowl and let stand at room temperature overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep covered.)