The amazing ginger rhubarb scone I had at Beacon Hill Books & Cafe insired me to get back into baking mode, which usually happens at right about this time. Fall brings cooler evenings and the ideal opportunity to practice some baking for the cozy season ahead. We didn’t have any ginger or rhubarb on hand, but this was mostly an explorative run-through of how to do a proper scone, as it’s been years – well, decades – since I’ve attempted a scone. Back then they came out well enough, but they were a bit messy, and I have a few more years of kitchen trials under my belt now. There was a container of candied orange in the cupboard from a planned panettone journey that never got off the ground earlier this year, so I decided to do a candied orange scone, which turned out better than expected.
I won’t get into the precise recipe I used (because to be honest I’ve already forgotten it – but look up any basic scone recipe and you have the same idea). I will offer a few pointers to what made this work for me. Use very cold butter (frozen for a few minutes before cutting) – and I’m told it’s even better to grate the butter like cheese to get smaller pieces into the flour and sugar. When it comes time to mix the wet and dry ingredients, the less mixing the better. That seems at odds with how we want things to go, but trust. Mine barely even came together in its bowl (hello shaggy dough!) and required some gentle kneading and shaping once I poured it out. But that’s definitely the way to go to avoid a tougher texture. Last tip is to brush the cut scones with heavy cream or buttermilk (whichever you used in the recipe) and sprinkle with coarse sugar for a better crust – this is more important than it seems, so don’t treat it like it’s optional.
The one thing we didn’t have for the glaze was orange juice, so I made the kooky/questionable/brilliant choice to use some orange soda – Fanta, from this Golden Shower – in place of the scant tablespoon or so needed to go with all the confectioner’s sugar. Suzie said it gave them a floral zing, and I am all about the sweet glaze. Au Bon Pain used to have this bright orange glaze on their orange scones and it was the reason I could handle the otherwise-dry nature of the things. This version maintained a delicate, flaky, crumbly texture, and Suzie gave it her approval, which is the highest praise for all things culinary. Consider scones the in-thing for this fall. Clotted cream here we come…
