Cranberry Orange Scones

Has anyone noticed I haven't posted in almost a week? I guess not. :) Well, I haven't.

While I have been visiting as many blogs as possible, I just have not been able to post anything this last week!You see, both my laptop and my internet enabled phone decided to call it quits at the same time. I think they planned it! And while they sit happily in the repair shop, I have no option but to use the desktop computer, and this chair gives me a horrid backache! And the spare phone I'm using (and I am grateful for the phone!), does not connect to the internet.So until my laptop returns, you won't be hearing from The Harried Cook as much!

Yesterday was one of those days. I just HAD to bake. I didn't care what. I just had the need to bake. I did a quick inventory of what was available in my limited pantry, and Googled some combinations that made sense to me. This scone recipe from Ina Garten was one of the first to show up. To  be honest, I have not had very good experiences with scones. Well, I haven't eaten that many scones in my life, but the ones I have eaten haven't been very good. So I was quite nervous trying this out.

This recipe was a pleasant surprise! Great flavors, flaky crumbly texture, only mildly sweet, and the yummy glaze made it just perfect! I made only half the recipe, and still ended up with more scones than I needed. Next time I'll try half of this.

Cranberry Orange Scones
Adapted from Ina Garten's recipe on Food Network

Ingredients
250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour (plus 2 tablespoon)
30g (1/8 cup) sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Zest of 1 orange
175g butter, cold & diced
3 medium eggs, beaten lightly
120ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
Demerara sugar, or additional granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Combine 250g of flour, the sugar, baking powder, salt and the orange zest in your mixer bowl. Stir to combine.
3. Add the diced butter, and run the mixer on the lowest setting till most of the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, with some larger bits of butter.
4. Remove 2 tbsp of the beaten egg mixture into a smaller bowl and set aside to use as egg wash.
5. Into the remaining egg, stir in the cream, mixing until combined.
6. Pour this egg-cream mixture into the flour mixture, and continue mixing on 'low' until the dough just comes together. It will be lumpy, but that's just fine!
7. Stir the additional 2 tbsp of flour with the cranberries in a bowl. Add this mixture into the dough and stir in until the cranberries are evenly distributed. Don't over-mix.
8. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. Roll out the dough about 3/4 inch thick. You might see bits of butter peeking out of the dough, but that's just fine.
9. Cut into circles using a round cookie cutter. Transfer the circles to a baking tray/dish.
10. Gather the remaining dough, roll out, and cut into scones. Continue until you've used up all the dough.
11. Add about a teaspoon of water to the reserved 2 tbsp of egg. Use this mixture to brush the tops of all the scones.
12. Sprinkle the scones with plain or demerara sugar, and bake about 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown, and scones feel firm to the touch.
13. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the tray for about 15 minutes.
14. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, and drizzle over with the fresh orange glaze.

Fresh Orange Glaze 
Ingredients

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar

4 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 tsp orange zest

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients, and stir until smooth and lump-free.

2. Add more sugar or juice to adjust the consistency, if desired.

The flavors of cranberry and orange really work well together. And while I've always eaten scones with jam and cream, or butter and jam, I didn't need that extra sweetness with these scones because of the glaze. It added just the right amount of sweetness. 

After dropping the jam, I felt it would be just plain wrong to drop the tea too. After all, tea and scones are made for each other. And while I am not a big tea or coffee drinker, I decided to respect the scone and made myself a hot cup of strawberry-mango tea. And after settling my little girl down for her late afternoon nap, I settled myself on the couch with a cup of tea, a scone (okay, okay, I had two!), and a good book. It was a wonderful afternoon!

I must report, as I always do, that everyone enjoyed this recipe - my husband, my daughter and the dog. Jerry gave it four barks, and that's a pretty high rating!