Cranberry Cream Scones with Mascarpone Cream

Last week, I met up with a friend and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea at a local tea house.  You know, the kind with cute little tea sandwiches and little sweet things neatly presented on three-tiered trays.  The whole experience was very...posh.  Actually, a little too posh.  We felt like we were supposed to speak in hushed tones and were afraid to make any sudden movements, as that might be an etiquette faux-pas according to Emily Post...all in all, food was great but the environment was just a little restricting.



Though I do love the idea of afternoon tea.

Then it dawned on me.  Why not create an afternoon tea experience in the comfort of my own home?  Those little tea sandwiches seem easy enough to put together.  I'll make a few macarons and buy a multi-tiered stand.  Just one little problem...the scones.  Well, I've never made scones.  Afternoon tea is just not afternoon tea without the perfect cream scone.  So I set out to find a good recipe.

This is an adaptation of a few recipes, with a combination of various techniques.  The resulting scone is flaky, crumbly, soft-in-the-center, and not too sweet.  I made a mascarpone cream to compliment the scones rather than traditional devon cream or creme fraiche, which added a  nice richness.

Scones are best the day they are made.  Baked scones can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen.  When you are ready to enjoy them, defrost at room temperature and bake in a 180ºC oven for 5 minutes.

Cranberry Cream Scones
makes 9

90 grams butter
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2/3 cup cold heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dried cranberries
zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Cut the butter into small cubes and place in freezer for 15 minutes.

 
In the meantime, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until blended.

Sprinkle the frozen butter on top of the dry ingredients.

 
Pulse about 10 times, until the butter is incorporated and small chunks of butter are still visible.  The mixture should resemble coarse oatmeal.

Stir vanilla into heavy cream, then add to flour mixture.  Stir with a spoon until a loose dough forms.  Gently mix in cranberries and orange zest.  Do not over-mix.

Tip dough on a lightly floured work surface.  Gather the dough into a square disc.  With cold hands, flatten disc and fold in half.  Give the dough a quarter turn, flatten and fold in half again.  Repeat this step five more times.

Flatten the dough to 1 inch thickness.  Cut out 2-inch rounds with a fluted biscuit cutter.  Gather leftover dough and cut out more rounds until all the dough is used.

Place scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the scones have risen and turned a light golden brown.  Let cool on baking sheet.  Serve warm or at room temperature, with mascarpone cream and raspberry jam.

For the mascarpone cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
1 tablespoon icing sugar

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the cold heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Gently stir in mascarpone and sugar until combined.  Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Scones are best the day they are made.  Baked scones can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen.  When you are ready to enjoy them, defrost at room temperature and bake in a 180ºC oven for 5 minutes.