blood orange scones
Blood oranges are in season right now, and I can’t resist the sweet, ruby-red fruit. It’s reminiscent of a large clementine (in flavor) or tangello – slightly less acidic than a normal orange with a sweeter edge to it. I assisted my food stylist friend Jackie last weekend and volunteered to make a nice breakfast pastry to bring in, so I figured some scones would fit the bill.
And oh me oh my, these are honestly the best scones I have ever had. They aren’t the dense, hard scones you find in your local chain coffee shop. Fragrant and light with the taste of blood oranges plus moist and airy from the use of buttermilk and plumped currants, they really are perfection. Be sure to use sparkling or raw sugar to get that good crunchy crust on top – it makes them extra extra divine.
Currants, pre-plump.
Just a spoonful (or three) of sugar…
Zest.
Ready to be baked.
Golden brown.
Scones, my dear.
—
Blood Orange Scones
Based verrrry loosely on the recipe from C & H Sugar, but ADJUSTED FOR ALTITUDE
Ever since I started using homemade baking powder inspired by Edna Lewis, I have fallen in love with it. Everything tastes cleaner (not metallic at all) and it doesn’t require buying special non-aluminum baking powder. All you have to do is mix 2 to 1 ratio of cream of tartar to baking soda. Some people add cornstarch but I find it’s unnecessary. If you do use store-bought baking powder, use non-aluminum. Scones are delicate things with few ingredients, so you want them to taste as clean as possible.
Makes about 9 scones.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1½ tsp homemade baking powder (read above)
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- ½ cup dried currants (sub with dried cranberries or raisins if you can’t find currants)
- 1 blood orange, zested and juiced (half the juice set aside)
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1 extra-large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
- Sparkling sugar
Directions
1.) Preheat oven to 420° F with the oven rack set in the center of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2.) Put the currants in a small bowl and then pour enough boiling water over them to cover. Let sit (and plump up) for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3.) In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Add the butter, and using either a pastry cutter or your hands, quickly work the butter into the dry ingredients until you have pea-sized balls. Add the currants and toss to coat.
4.) In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, zest, about 3 tablespoons of the orange juice, vanilla, and egg. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely moist.
5.) Scoop 1/3-cup sized dollops at least 2 inches apart onto baking sheets (I fit 6 onto a baking sheet). Top with sprinkling sugar or raw sugar and bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with orange marmalade or clotted cream and tea.
Just because I don’t think I tell you often enough–Jessica: You are a goddess! I believe that I will make these myself within the next few weeks–but I’ve never modified anything due to altitude, so for KC baking, what would I do differently from you?
Hey Shannon!
When I adjust things for altitude, the things that change the most are sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and liquid amounts. The oven temperature also differs (goes up 15-20°) so here is my modified version of the recipe, but for sea level. Enjoy!
Ingredients
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* ¼ cup granulated sugar
* 2 tsp homemade baking powder (read above)
* ¼ tsp baking soda
* ¼ tsp salt
* ¼ tsp cinnamon
* 1/8 tsp ground ginger
* ½ cup dried currants (sub with dried cranberries or raisins if you can’t find currants)
* 1 blood orange, zested and juiced (half the juice set aside)
* ½ cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into cubes
* 1 large egg
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 2/3 cup buttermilk, shaken
* Sparkling sugar
Directions
1.) Preheat oven to 400° F with the oven rack set in the center of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2.) Put the currants in a small bowl and then pour enough boiling water over them to cover. Let sit (and plump up) for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3.) In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Add the butter, and using either a pastry cutter or your hands, quickly work the butter into the dry ingredients until you have pea-sized balls. Add the currants and toss to coat.
4.) In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, zest, 2 tablespoons of the orange juice, vanilla, and egg. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely moist.
5.) Scoop 1/3-cup sized dollops at least 2 inches apart onto baking sheets (I fit 6 onto a baking sheet). Top with sprinkling sugar or raw sugar and bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with orange marmalade or clotted cream and tea.
Wow, these are gorgeous! Especially lovely with the raw sugar sprinkled on top.
I just baked a round of pumpkin scones with dried cranberries- same colour combination as yours but far less dainty looking, heh.
Hahaha, and I think mine are far less dainty than those you see in coffee shops and whatnot. All perfect triangles and hard as rocks, heh.
And hey, I like your blog! I work for a cycling publisher so I know all about biking + baking, haha. Your scones look delish!
These look fabulous…I have blood oranges that are begging to be made into scones. I hope sour milk will work for buttermilk. Just a quick question…you set aside half the orange juice. Do you use it in the recipe, or just set it aside?
Hi Brenda!
You use half the juice when you add the other liquid ingredients (buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, etc) in Step 4. I drink the other half
Hope you enjoy them!
JJ
Can you give an estimate for the amount of orange juice that you used in the recipe? I thought I’d try the recipe with clementines. I figured that since the clementines were a little less than half the size of an orange, I’s use the juice of one whole clementine plus a few segments. Mine turned out more like batter than a dough and the scones turned into pancakes in the oven. They tasted pretty good, but it was a tad disappointing to have them look like that.
Hi Jennifer!
I used at most a quarter cup of the orange juice.
Your real problem may be you made the high-altitude version of the recipe (the main one listed), which has quite a bit more liquid in it than the sea level version. I posted my version without altitude adjustments in the comments, so perhaps try that?
JJ
Nope. I used the low altitude version. I think I just used too much orange juice. I have no idea what size a blood orange is supposed to be, so I just assumed regular orange size. I just read somewhere that they’re smaller, so I guess that was my problem.
I would start off with maybe 2 tablespoons, and see where your batter is at. My batter was very loose – almost like loose cookie dough. It had to be scooped (could not be formed with hands) and you can see in pics they spread quite a bit from the initial ball to finished product.