English cuisine brings to mind plenty of classic dishes: the pub fare fish and chips, savory yorkshire pudding, and the ever delicious scone. Despite what some might think, this treat isn’t actually a pastry. It’s more akin to a cake or a bread. It’s also an absolute necessity during Devonshire tea (a tea assortment consisting of tea, scones, jam and cream typically served in the afternoons). Today we can find them in many cafes, but nothing tastes better than the homemade variety.
As with most breads and cakes there are many variations to the scone. They may include raisins, cheese, fruits, or even some regions, potatoes. For this recipe we added cranberries to our scones for a delicious, tart flavor that mixes perfectly with a bit of clotted cream and jam. Scroll below for our recipe…
Cranberry Scones
(makes 10-12 servings)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries chopped coarse
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest (should be from about 2 lemons)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup heavy cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
- In a food processor, pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter, and lemon zest until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, toss cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar, then stir into the flour mixture.
- In another small bowl, beat egg and egg yolk together, then stir in the cream.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined. Be careful to not overmix or you will end up with hard, tough scones.
- Flour a working surface, pat the dough out into a 1-inch thick round, and using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many pieces as possible.
- Reroll the scraps and repeat until there is no more dough left.
- Shape the rounds into little triangles, then place 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they just start to golden.
- Serve scones warm with clotted cream and jam. Whipped cream can also be used.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen