Tangerine Scones

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Yesterday I waxed on about weekday and weekend recipes. So my usual scone recipe does not use butter. But I see scone recipes all the time using butter and I thought…I love baked goods with butter. What am I resisting? So my previous scones have been anointed the weekday scones…and these with the butter, cream and egg are weekend scones. You’re welcome.

Have fun with these. You could use blueberries in place of the cherries. You could sub in some lemon for tangerine. You could make chocolate and cherry scones? I did that once…I loved it. Anyone? Let’s get freaky here. Maybe it’s because we’re eating chili today…but what about a jalapeno and cheddar scone? OK, that may be happening next… I gotta go create. Have a fun day eating and drinking. Gan bei.

**A quick note on freezing scones. I often make scones the night before; doing everything except baking them. They have the egg wash, sprinkle of sugar/cinnamon, a quick 30 minute freeze and then I wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, then foil and put them in a resealable plastic freezer bag. When you’re ready to bake, pre-heat your oven and bake directly from the freezer…no need to defrost. Happy baking! xx

Makes 8 Scones

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (I love this flour…have it in your pantry at all times)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons (plus more for dusting)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 generous tablespoon tangerine zest
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in 8 pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
• 2/3 cup cream (you can substitute with any milk…whatever you have in the fridge…they won’t be as moist if you use less fat…but they’re still good)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 tablespoon sugar

For the Glaze

  • 1-2 cup of powdered sugar (see my notes below)
  • Juice from 1-2 tangerines and about 1 tablespoon of zest (may need two tangerines for this)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Mix cake flour, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. I use a fork here. You can grab a whisk to use but then your just dirtying up one more utensil…and you’ll need the fork for step four. Say that twenty times fast.
  2. Toss in the zest and fluff around with the fork until well distributed.
  3. Sprinkle the 2/3 cup of sugar and gently distribute.
  4. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, two forks or your hands. Here is how I normally do it…I get my pastry blender and act all proper and get the butter all cut up until a point. Let’s say it gets to the size of peas for reference? Then I throw the pastry blender across the room because it isn’t getting me where I wanna go. So I throw my hands in there and make a real mess of things. I sort of rub the flour-butter mixture between my fingers to make sure all the flour gets a little butter love.
  5. Add the cherries and fluff around some more.
  6. Mix the egg and 2/3 cup of cream together in a bowl and then drizzle over the flour and fruit mixture. Using your fork, fluff around a bit more until a dough is starting to form. Again, I usually get in there with my hands to force the issue. If it looks like it could use a couple of kneads to form a ball of dough, I do that…but not too aggressively. Max out at about five-ish kneads. Slap that thing around until you have a relatively cohesive ball of dough.
  7. *IF* your dough is too moist, sprinkle some more flour in…1-2 tablespoons.
  8. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. If using the parchment, dust with some flour. Sometimes humidity will effect this…you may need flour for both liners if the dough seems extra sticky. I really prefer a silpat with this…it tends to move around less when I’m futzing with the dough.
  9. Separate into two equal size lumps on top of the parchment/silpat and mold into two discs, about an inch and a half thick. Add more flour to your hands if they’re sticking to the dough. This is a wet dough that you’ll need to gently sculpt into a sphere. It’s not going to be perfect. But the end result will be one of the moistest (yes, we’re saying it) scones you’ve ever had. Make sure you don’t overwork your dough. This should be your mantra when futzing with a flour-based dough.
  10. Mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together in a bowl.
  11. Using a pastry brush (or whatever you have on hand), brush the 1 tablespoon of milk on top of the two dough discs. Then sprinkle, with a heavy hand (which is usually my advice for all sugar- or alcohol-based concoctions), the sugar-cinnamon goodness on top.
  12. Pop the discs, uncovered, into the freezer. Set the timer for thirty. You can skip this step if you’re short on time or patience…the freezer just helps them get a little more lift off in the oven. I will also say, that if your dough is on the stickier side, this will definitely make it easier to handle…especially when you’re trying to cut it.
  13. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
  14. When the timer goes off, pull the scones out of the freezer. Using a sharp knife (I love my bread knife for this), cut each disc into four, equal-size scones. Pull the scones out at least two inches…they need room to expand. You can gently loosen the bottoms with a knife if they’re sticking a bit. Some recipes tell you to keep the scones pretty close together while baking as it will help them rise up. However, if they’re too close, the scones will grow back together and be kinda mushy on the sides.
  15. Set the timer for 16 minutes…but it should take closer to 18 minutes to cook. After they’ve been in the oven for 8 minutes, rotate the baking sheet so that you get some even browning happening. Start watching them around the 16 minute mark, just to be sure. These are on the blonder side (which is why I love the tangerine and cherries for giving them a more interesting complexion). Don’t go over on the time looking for a bronze tinge. They’ll dry out and you’ll never get there. It’s like me trying to get a tan. It. Will. Never. Happen. (I know I said this in the last scone post…but I just had to repeat…it’s so true. Sigh.)
  16. Meanwhile…whip up the glaze in a bowl. Mixing schmooey is a tango…listen to what it wants and needs. More powdered sugar? More tangerine juice? Add more of each in little bits until you get the right texture…which is when it is thin enough to drizzle, yet thick enough to stop in its’ tracks and not just run off the scone. Let it sit and mingle while the scones cool. Drizzle on top. Boom. Done. Get a drink. Let’s eat. Let’s play. Cancel all plans for the day.

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