Friday Feast | To Celebrate a Queen
Welcome to Friday Feast in Mary's Tavern. Originally, the recipe scheduled for today dealt with light fare. We're in the middle of a historic heatwave, and I have not cooked or had my knight set a flame to the bbq in over a week. Yet with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, I decided to pull out my Royal Teas Cookbook I purchased at Buckingham Palace on my visit five years ago.
Though the Queen is not my monarch, I had great admiration and respect for her. She represented such strength and wisdom during her lifetime. So for today, I'd like to honor her with a cup of tea and my favorite scone recipe. I'm certain she would be pleased.
I've heard mentioned she enjoyed Drop Scones, which are similar to our American breakfast pancakes. The recipe for these are included in the book above and they're delicious!
Cheers!
CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES
Ingredients
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut up
1/2 cup fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel (I use the peel of one medium orange)
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Measure heavy cream in a 2-cup glass measure; beat in egg with a fork.
Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk or stir to mix well. Add the 8 tablespoons butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine granules.
Add cranberries, sugar, and orange peel; toss lightly to distribute evenly.
Add heavy cream to mixture. Stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured board and give 6 to 10 kneads, just until well mixed. Form dough into a ball and cut into 8 wedges. Form each wedge into a ball and place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake 18-20 minutes, or until light brown. Remove to a wire rack.
NOTE: Feel free to tweak or leave scones as wedges instead of forming into a ball. I used to use buttermilk in the original recipe, but I’ve found that heavy cream makes for a softer scone inside.
