merry christmas to you!
i hope you are snuggly warm with mugs of hot spiked liquids and listening to vince guaraldi trio and spooning with your favorite person at the same time.
on this lovely day, i'll be wearing the same thing for the 3rd day in a row because my bag has been lost by the airlines.
again.
i'm thinking i must have done a terrible thing at the airport in a past life.
these cranberry cream scones would be a joy to have on Christmas morning.
they're so good that eating one might make me momentarily forget that i might be wearing this same stupid dress for another 6 days.
they are my most favorite basic cream scone. with some sliced sugared cranberries, some orange zest.
as they sat out to cool, i brushed the tops with maple syrup. not necessary by any means, but, c'mon.
Cranberry Cream Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
bit of orange zest
5 tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup fresh cranberries, halved (i used leftover sugared cranberries)
maple syrup (optional), for brushing
preheat oven to 400. place flour, baking powder, sugar, zest, and salt in bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. whisk together or pulse six times.
if making by hand, use a pastry blender or fork to quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few larger butter clumps. if using a food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. transfer dough to a large bowl. add in cranberries and toss to distribute.
stir in the cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough just forms together. transfer dough and all the dry, floury bits to a floured countertop and knead dough a bit by hand until it comes together in a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. pat the dough on a floured work surface into a 3/4 inch thick circle, and cut circles out with a biscuit cutter.
place scone rounds on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment, sprinkle the tops with white or raw sugar, and bake until tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. serve warm or at room temperature.
brush tops with some maple syrup.