Cranberry Orange Cream Scones
Sometimes I feel like I could be doing this whole ‘food blogger’ thing so much better than I am.
Looking back at where I’ve started, it goes without saying that I’ve stepped my game up on the photography end. Those first few posts were downright cringeworthy (And no, do not go back to look at them. I beg of you.)
But when it comes to the social media engagement part of this food blog gig…meh. I’m slacking off on that end, and I know it.
I only post new recipes once a week. That’s pretty sparse in comparison to the normal grind of food blogging. And even if it were the norm to post new recipes once a week, I still don’t do anything throughout the week in the meantime between time. I don’t do flashback posts on the FB page. I don’t ask questions, or post tips for cooking or baking. I don’t do that whole What I Ate/Am Eating for Lunch and/or Dinner thing (which I think is weird anyway, no offense to those of you who do participate)
I very much stay in my lane. I make my tiny little blog post on Fridays, I link it up to Fiesta Friday, then to a few other social media outlets (Pinterest, FB, Twitter & Instagram), and then I go about my business.
I wish I could promise y’all that I’m gonna “do better” and start posting more recipes, much more often. But that would feel slightly disingenuous. I’ve been doing the one-post-a-week routine for several years now and it’s one that works for me. Most of the time, it keeps me from feeling pressured or stressed about constantly putting out new content. The minute food blogging starts feeling stressful is the minute I’ll stop doing it. My posting schedule works for me; if it ain’t broke, why try to fix it?
There is one thing that I admit would be worth the effort for me to do more of on here. I want to be better about showing the actual process of the recipes, step by step. If you’re not experienced (especially with baking) sometimes written instructions fall a little short, even if they’re as detailed as I try to make mine. It’s not practical for me to keep my pricey shooting camera around while I have stuff out and messy in the kitchen ( as I definitely can’t afford to fix it should the worst happen). But I have recently been trying to make better use of my phone for those purposes.
If you guys check out my Instagram profile page, you’ll see where I’ve saved past Stories I’ve made into permanent Highlights. These Highlights are pretty much step by step instructions of particular recipes, DIY ingredients and special techniques that I use while baking. So far I’ve covered things like DIY Candied Ginger & Ginger Syrup, Perfect Pancakes and Roasted Garlic. Today’s recipe happens to be the subject of my latest Highlight. So if you’re interested in seeing the ‘play by play’, you should go ahead and check out the Highlight, then come right back here to read the recipe itself.
So far as the actual process goes, I’ll let the Highlight do most of the work, but I will say here that the heavy cream is what makes ALL the difference with these scones. The more that I make scones and biscuits, the more I’m starting to appreciate the differences between them, as sometimes I think the lines get blurred. A good rule of thumb would be to use heavy cream for scones, and buttermilk for biscuits. The heavy cream produces a ‘cakier’ crumb, while the buttermilk will contribute more to a flaky, layered one.
These scones are my new favorite. Try them and you’ll understand why.
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Recipe Adapted from TeaTime Magazine Ingredients Directions Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, orange zest and cranberries together in a bowl and stir together with a fork. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the butter directly into the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. Pour in the heavy cream. Use a large fork and a large rubber spatula to stir the mixture together. If it seems a little dry you may add additional heavy cream until it forms a shaggy dough. Sprinkle a pastry mat, wooden cutting board or wax paper with flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface and pat a few times with your hands until it loosely holds together. (Don’t knead it too much or the warmth in your palms will melt the butter and cause the scones to be tough.) Pat and roll the dough into a rectangle. Take the two opposite ends and fold them together like a business letter into thirds. Flip it upside down & roll it into another rectangle, sprinkling the surface with flour if it gets too sticky. Repeat the folding process two to three more times before patting it into one final rectangle. Wrap the rectangle in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and unwrap the scone dough out onto it. Use a bench scraper or very sharp knife to trim the edges of the rectangle. Cut the remaining dough into squares, about 2″ each. Remove the cut scones to a baking sheet you’ve lined with parchment paper, rather close to each other (it will help them rise higher). Sprinkle the tops with white sugar. Place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Bake until scones are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.Cranberry Orange Cream Scones
Food blogging is like having another job! A solid post (from testing to photos to writing and posting) takes me anywhere from 6-18 collective hours—who has that kind of time?! Trying to predict how the social media algorithms will work is a whole other thing 🙄 You do you! These look amazing. Love a cream scone 💗💗
Thank you so much Liz! Nothing makes me feel more like an amateur blogger than those darn social media algorithms and whatnot lol That’s another huge reason why I stay in my lane and go about my business 😀
Personally I only follow blogs I’m going to read. So I don’t need blog posts coming every day. Keeping up with blogs that come once a week is more than enough for me. I don’t manage to post once a week, and sometimes only every month or so 🙂
These scones look great and I feel your details in your recipes are enough.
Thank you, that means a lot. 😀
All was going well until making a rectangle. What size rectangle?
I looked for # of servings as a guide but didn’t find that either.
Can you give me a hint? I just winged it, and the dough is in the fridge, but now how many scones does this recipe make?
Thanks
Hi Marge, That depends on how thick or thin you roll the dough out the final time. I recommend keeping it about 1 inch thick. So far as the amount of scones you get, it depends on the size you cut them in to. If you’re keeping them smallish/medium size you should get between 10-12. If they’re large, you’ll get between 6-8. Hope this helps 🙂
This looks so good! 🙂 I’ll surely be trying these out soon.
Awesome! Let me know how they turn out for–thanks 🙂
Amazing scones! Really interested in the cream and the folding technique – never tried that before. They look and sound so yummy! 😋
It changed the way I made all of my scones and biscuits for the better Lili, you really should try it! Thank you 🙂
Welcome. Thanks again for sharing. Will try it. 😊👍
I started reading and thought ah, Jess sounds like me, posting once a week, taking better photos (don’t look at my early ones either)! not worrying about facebook and algorithms and such stuff… then I saw that you have stories on Instagram! I so need to work out how to do that!?! Not that I have time mind, but the thought has been there a while! 🙂 Then the scones – cream in the recipe? That is a new one on me – I’ve never seen that before and I will try it for my boys very soon! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday (I know you mentioned it but I couldn’t find you links this week?) Hope you’re having a great weekend.
It took me a little while to get the hang of making Stories on IG too, trust me! I still don’t know much about all the algorithm/traffic stuff–I’m just a cook, stats don’t matter that much to me lol
Cream in scones is a real game changer–I really do think it’s the best liquid for them. Thanks, I hope you and your boys enjoy the scones and that your weekend’s been great too!
I’m just starting out, and I can’t imagine more than once per week! Thanks for doing what you do, and being honest!
I can’t wait to try these scones! I’ll have to work them in to my schedule!
Thanks so much, I’d rather put out one quality post a week rather than multiple mediocre, or poor ones for sure. I hope you can try and enjoy the scones sometime soon 😉
Cranberry and orange, a perfect match. This recipe will surely have a place at our Sunday gathering.
I made these for a neighborhood tea. Followed instructions exactly except added about 1/2 cup of milk to make the dough come together. My cream seemed exceptionally thick so perhaps that was the problem. I cut the large rectangles of dough with my mini round biscuit cutter before freezing. Coated tops with a bit of cream and sprinkled sugar. Reduced baking time to 23 minutes because of the small size. Added an orange juice powdered sugar glaze since they were for an afternoon tea rather than breakfast. Rave reviews. Everyone wanted the recipe.
I’m so pleased to hear you and you neighbors liked the scones–thank you!