This past weekend I went skiing with some friends in Upstate NY. As the song goes, the weather was frightful (about 2 feet of snow and temperatures in the negatives, to be exact). We spent the weekend digging out the cars from the snow, skiing and sitting by the fire at night. But one thing I wish we had was a nice pastry to pair with tea this snowy weekend.
When I came home, I still couldn’t stop thinking about my craving for a warm and spicy pastry. So I cracked open my cooking book and ended up finding scones. Ah yes, How could I forget the croissant’s British cousin. The beautiful thing about scones is that the same dough can make all different types. Just add in the fruits (such as lemon, orange, blueberry, strawberries, ect), nuts (almonds, walnuts, ect), spices (all spice, cinnamon, cardamom, ect). You can make a few different kinds at at the same time. I decided to do with a combination of classic blueberry scones for practice. As well as Orange & Cardamom scones to satisfy the cravings for something spicy and warm on these winter days.
What I learned while making scones:
They key to making scones is ice cold butter. As the butter melts in the scone, it steams and leaves air pockets in the dough making it light and flaky. So if you find your scones are a little dense, it may be because the butter wasn’t cold enough. I’d recommend freezing the butter ahead of time.
Another tip I’d recommend is using a food processor with the S shaped blade. This will evenly mix in the frozen butter. I know what you are thinking, “ugh, wait a minute, I need a complicated appliances for this recipe? ”. The answer is NO, a food processor is not required but it will make this process cleaner and easier. And hey, this is probably the one time where it’s appropriate to dust off that bridal shower gift or that weird attachment that came with the blender. However if you do not have one, you can just use a cheese grater to shred the frozen butter into small curls. It just takes a little more elbow grease. Don’t have a cheese grater? I fork and a load of patience also works fine.
Onto the recipe:
Orange Cardamom Scones (And Blueberry Scones)
Ingredients
Scones:
- 2 cups Flour
- ½ cup Sugar
- 1 TBSP Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Cardamom
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter (cold, frozen if possible) (1 stick)
- 1 Egg
- ½ cup Heavy cream
- 1 tsp Orange Zest
Glaze:
- ½ cup Confectioners Sugar
- 2 TBSP Orange Juice
- 2 TBSP Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 Degrees
- Combine Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Salt and Cardamom (or any other herb/spice) in a food processor (or large cold bowl)
- If you are using a food processor, cut the cold/frozen butter into small cubes and add to the food processor, pulse until mixture has the consistency of sand, (If you do not have a food processor, shred the cold/frozen butter with a cheese grater and thoroughly mix ) then transfer to a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, and egg until combined. Pour mixture into flour mixture. Add in orange zest (or any other fruit/nut), and gently fold with a wooden spoon until a flaky dough forms.
- Split the dough in half, and put half of the dough onto a lightly floured surface, fold dough onto itself 3 times, then form it into a 1 inch thick round pie. Using a floured knife, cut into 6-8 pieces. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Place triangles onto parchment lined baking pans. Bake for 12-15 mins or until golden brown and crispy on the sides.
- Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk Confectioner sugar, Orange juice and Heavy cream until combined. Drizzle onto scones.
- For more glaze that is more precisely placed, let the scone cool completely. Also add in more confectionery sugar until desired thickness.
