Variations on a Theme - Cranberry Orange Scones

When I start a new recipe, I tend to beat it to death. I cook it over and over, and tweak it so many times I tend to lose track, which is why I have this blog. I love those whole-wheat scones that I made the other day, so here is a variation, Orange Cranberry Scones.

Scraping the pith from the peel

 Many people will tell you to zest the peel on a box grater, but my preferred method is to slice the orange up, eat the fruit, and scrape the pith from the peel. I then will mince the peel with a knife. In the above picture, you can see the whole process in its various stages.

I prefer to use the whole peel rather than just the zest for the following reasons. First, when using the whole peel more of the orange flavor will come through. When we zest the orange, we tend to only take the "color" layer which leaves too much of the oil and flavor behind. Second, the slightly larger pieces of the peel that I use add a pleasant visual interest to the final product.

In the above picture, I am scraping the pith from peel. I hold a sharp knife at 90 degrees to the peel and scrape the white pith away. Do not push too hard or the peel will tear. As the pith (which is bitter and unpleasant) is scraped away, it will reveal the skin of the orange and you will be able to see the pores of the orange peel. Once to that stage, I mince the peel.

During the holidays, I will often candy the peels, or flavor sugar with the orange peels. More about that later.

Recovering from a mistake

 I got ahead of myself a bit while making these scones. The mind wanders. I added my cranberries and orange peel before working the butter into the flour mixture, so I shifted them apart using a wire strainer.

Cranberry Orange Scones ready for baking

This recipe is slightly different than the Blueberry Scones and not just because there are no blueberries. In the wet ingredients, I did away with the milk and increased the sour cream. I was looking for a brighter flavor out of these to help the citrus pop.

 I also substituted orange juice for lemon juice.

Can you see the orange peel in there?

Adam's Cranberry Orange Scones

makes 12

dry ingredients

6.75 ounces of whole wheat flour (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 tsp baking powdered

3 TBS sugar

1/8 tsp salt

wet ingredients

1/2 TBS orange juice

Peel from half an orange, minced

4 TBS sour cream

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

additions

7 TBS butter

1 cup of dried unsweetened cranberries

1/2 cup of oats

Cranberry Orange Scones