You might have seen a feeeew references here and there on our social media accounts about a little (ahem, big) tea party that Ashley and I help with. 😉 Well, the actual event was this past Saturday…and I’m happy to report that the weather was perfect, the guests looked lovely, the food was delicious, and the activities and Tea Boutique shopping occupied about 375 ladies of all ages. =) It was certainly a BIG success and the committee has had so many nice compliments about the afternoon, which makes all the super hard work totally worth it. Whew! I look forward to sharing more pictures and recipes with you in the coming weeks! But since my most requested recipes are generally of the scone variety, I thought I’d start out with this year’s sweet scone and complementary spread (we also serve a savory combination – this year it was cornmeal scones with tomato bacon jam…it may sound weird, but trust me – SO MUCH YUM. Stay tuned!)
So, I’m super smitten with these orange scones paired with our tropical curd. Our committee does quite a bit of experimenting and tweaking of potential recipes (and, um, yes, that part is deliciously fun) We used this scone recipe, minus the glaze (even though the glaze sounds wonderful!) – but we always serve a fruit butter or fancy curd with our sweet scones instead. Yes, it will certainly be easier to make the glaze (and I’m definitely gonna try it myself sometime)…but a word to you about the curd. If I can convince you to top these Orange Scones with this Tropical Curd, I would be So Happy. I have a feeling you’ll be as obsessed with it as we are!! 😉 😉
See, we tried a very delicious pineapple curd first…but we realized that all the good fresh orange juice from the zested fruit wouldn’t even be used. Sad. So we combined the pineapple and orange juices to make an even more heavenly Tropical Curd. Y’all…I wish I could sneak spoonfuls of it to you guys through my computer screen. I love all curds, but THIS is my FAVORITE. You may even lick your plate in the privacy of your own home…just a warning. 😉
Let’s get started, shall we??
You’re gonna use a microplane grater to zest some oranges into a bowl with the sugar. And it’ll be beautiful. And smell sooo good.
Especially when you mix it all up with your fingers…
Then you’ll pulse the dry ingredients a few times in your food processor and add the slices of butter.
After it’s processed, you’ll get these crumbs.
Now comes the exciting part! You’ll mix the sour cream and the egg. And it’ll be a lovely yellow color, but the pictures you took of it are ALL too blurry, so you can’t use them. Oh, wait, that was just me…
Then you mix the sugar/zest mixture into the flour and add the wet ingredients. It’ll come together like so…
And you’ll NEED to KNEAD it until it’s all soft and orangey and beautiful. Yes, I just called scone dough beautiful. It is, O.K.? 😉
You’ll split the dough into two sections. That handy dandy tool in the picture above is very useful, but not completely necessary. You can use a regular knife.
Now you’ll pat each ball of dough out into a flattened disc. And cut it into wedges.
Some scone recipes have you bake the wedges right up next to each other, but I like prettier finished edges, so I separate them on the cookie sheet.
And voila! You made scones! But not just any scones. These are a lovely consistency and the most sweetly fragrant thing you’ve baked in quite awhile. (Or maybe that was just me.)
And you can’t wait to whip up some of that Tropical Curd to top it with! By the way, any scones are best right out of the oven, but here’s a little trick…a microwave will be fine in a pinch, but reheating scones in a toaster oven is The Way To Go. They seriously taste like they were just baked. Even after the scones have been frozen. Try it! =)
- 1/3 c. sugar
- zest of 2 oranges
- 2 c. all-purpose flour (White Lily is my favorite - use heaping cupfuls with such a light flour)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 c. sour cream
- 1 egg
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Zest the oranges into a small bowl with 1/3 c. sugar. Incorporate with your fingers.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse.
- Mix the sour cream and egg into a small bowl.
- Add the orange zest and sugar mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
- Pour the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well. You'll have to finish up by kneading the dough until it completely comes together.
- Place dough on a floured surface and cut into two sections.
- Press each ball of dough into a disc-shape (not too thin) and cut each disc into 8 wedges.
- Place the scone wedges onto your parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, or until scones are browned.
- If you don't have a food processor, you may use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter.
- 1 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. fresh-squeezed orange juice and pineapple juice (we used half and half)
- 8 egg yolks
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- In a medium saucepan, combine orange and pineapple juices with the egg yolks, sugar, and salt, whisking thoroughly.
- Set over medium heat, mixing constantly with a silicone spatula, being especially careful to scrape around the edges of the pan.
- The curd will be done cooking when it is thick enough to coat the back of the spatula; the time may vary quite a bit. It may take 20-25 minutes, though it may be done considerably before that.
- Off the heat, add in the pieces of butter a few at a time and mix until incorporated completely. Strain the curd through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl, and gently press plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd, to prevent a skin forming.
- Refrigerate until chilled; it will thicken considerably once cooled.
