These Blood Orange Scones get a flavor boost & warmth from ginger root and the perfect sweetness from a pretty Blood Orange Glaze. The perfect recipe to use blood oranges that are in season in the early spring! Or substitute the blood orange and ginger for any other flavor combination that you like!
What makes these Ginger & Blood Orange Scones so good?
Scones are a quick and easy breakfast bake that are so adaptable! Any number of spices or fruit can be mixed in. Chocolate chips, raisins, currants, nuts, dried apricots, apples, cinnamon, chai, or even a tea infusion!
The one thing that always disappoints me about scones is that they should be eaten the day they are made. Scones generally are not as good on day two and rarely worth eating on day three.
But this recipe changes all of that!
The base scone recipe here (the recipe without the blood orange zest, juice, and ginger root) can be flavored any way you like and the scones will be moist and delicious for at least 3 days if they are stored airtight at room temperature.
The lack of eggs in this recipe keeps them from drying out, which is an effect of egg whites in most bread recipes. The egg yolk would normally add richness but with no eggs, that richness of flavor was missing. Using heavy cream in place of the eggs and also my usual sour cream or yogurt did just the trick!
Heavy Cream provides just enough fat to make the scones rich, moist, and tender without being too wet and falling apart.
The dough is a dream to work with and shape!
Shaping Cream Scones
The triangle shape of these scones is the American version of British scones. True British scones are generally patted or rolled out and then cut with a round cutter and then baked.
Americans have changed this up a bit by shaping the dough into a disk and then cutting it into triangles. The benefit of this version is that the dough doesn't get overworked while the dough is rerolled and cut a couple of times. This keeps the scones light and tender.
The patting, cutting, and stacking method used in this recipe creates layers for even lighter scones with pull-apart layers.
So shape them as you like but I prefer the triangle scones for ease and a great result!
Flavor Pairings
Sometimes you know exactly what you like. Maybe you are in the mood for chocolate, pure and simple. Or it might be as simple as wanting a vanilla dessert with no other distractions.
But sometimes you need a little help. If you are looking for inspiration for flavor pairings, I HIGHLY recommend The Flavor Bible by Andrew Dornenburg.
This book allows you to look up one ingredient and find lists of other flavors that pair well with your ingredient. It tells you the best pairings as well as other good matches. There are also short quotes and stories from famous chefs about certain ingredients and their favorite ways to use them.
This book has never let me down! Every ingredient or flavor that I have looked up has given me the perfect pairing that will elevate my recipe.
When I was getting ready to make these scones, I knew that I would use fresh and in-season blood oranges that I had just picked up at the grocery store. But I wanted to add a little pep to the scones! I just wasn't sure what I wanted to use to do it!
My first thought was the warmth of cardamom, one of my favorite spices. But I grabbed my copy of the Flavor Bible, looked up blood oranges, and saw that- yes, cardamom was listed as a good flavor match - but so was ginger and ginger is my all-time favorite flavor!
So off I went to make these amazing Ginger & Blood Orange Cream Scones!
Freezing Cream Scones - Before and After Baking
Scones are the perfect choice for freezing!
The beauty of scones (well, one of the beauties!) is that you can make the dough well in advance and freeze the dough, unbaked and well-wrapped, Bake scones from frozen - just add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time in the recipe.
You can also bake the scones and then wrap them well and freeze them until needed. Let them thaw at room temperature and then refresh for 2 to 3 minutes in a 300-degree F oven before glazing and/or serving.
This makes these Ginger & Blood Orange Cream Scones the PERFECT make-ahead breakfast for when you have guests visiting, for the family on busy weekday mornings, or to ensure that YOU get a lazy Saturday morning too!
Blood Orange Ginger Cream Scones
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
Make the Scones
- 250 grams all-purpose flour
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 113 grams unsalted butter, very cold
- 130 mL heavy cream, very cold Reserve 2 tablespoons for brushing the scones
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of two Blood Oranges
- 1 inch knob of ginger root (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
Make the Glaze
- 250 grams powdered sugar
- Juice of one to two Blood Oranges
Instructions
Make the Scones
- Preheat your oven to 375℉ (190℃) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat mat. Set aside.
- In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse 3 or 4 times to combine well.
- Cut the cold butter into 8 Tablespoon-sized pieces. Scatter over the flour mixture in the food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Add the vanilla extract and the very cold heavy cream. Pulse 5 to 6 times until the dough begins to come together in clumps.
- Add the grated zest of two blood oranges and the peeled ginger root (or ground ginger).
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and press down and shape in to a rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half and stack the pieces. Press down again into a rectangle and cut in half again. Repeat this process a total of 5 times. This creates layers in the dough for flaky scones.
- Fold the dough in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold it in half again, repeating this step 5 times and taking care to not overwork the dough.
- Shape the dough into a circle and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Cut the circle into 8 wedges with a knife or a bench scraper (my favorite tool!). Spread the wedges apart a little. Chill in the freezer for 5 minutes to help firm up the butter.
- Brush the scones with VERY COLD heavy cream. If you do not plan to glaze the scones, sprinkle on some granulated sugar or sparkling sugar. Bake at 375℉ (190℃) for 14-17 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown. Allow the scones to cool completely on the baking sheet.
Make the Glaze
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and half of the juice from one blood orange. Add more liquid as needed to make a running glaze.
- Spoon the glaze over the scones when the scones are completely cool.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container. Scones are best the day they are made but, thanks to the heavy cream in the recipe, these scones are still delicious up to 3 days later if stored air tight!
Marilyn P says
Thanks for the recipe and video! To confirm, we do either Step 6 or Step 7, not both, right?
Tanya Ott says
Marilyn - YES! I will go back and make the instructions more clear! Thank you for commenting! Some people like the folding method and some like to cut and stack so I included both and should have been more clear.