Scones for Mother's Day

It's probably a little funny to jump from a vegan recipe to one that's full of butter, cream, and eggs...but that's just how I do, lol.

My family spent Mother's Day visiting Grandma, so I made these scones as a little treat for her...

Orange Currant Scones
16 mini scones

6 tablespoons currants
...soaked in 3 tablespoons orange blossom water (or any liquid / liqueur of your choice)

2 cups flour
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
1/4 cup (half stick) frozen butter

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup heavy cream

Glaze
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
Juice of half a small orange (~ 2 tablespoons)

Optional: extra cream and coarse sugar for sprinkling

The night before, I soaked the currants in the orange blossom water...

I think only an hour should be fine though.

I got to work on the dough, bright and early on Mother's Day...

Dough:
Combine the egg, cream and orange zest and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together.

At this point, grate the frozen butter directly into the flour, then mix in with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. (I like to use the frozen butter method since I only have a mini food processor)

Alternately: Run the the flour and butter in a food processor until the mixture is crumbly and pea-sized or cut the cold butter into the flour, whatever's comfortable...

Add the plumped currants (witholding the excess liquid) to the flour mixture, and stir in with the fork until well combined.

Stir the dough, either with a spoon or your hands, just until it comes together. Do not overmix...


Form the dough into two balls. The dough will be crumbly, but that's a good thing! It shouldn't be too wet.

Wrap each ball in plastic wrap or wax paper and set in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.

When you're ready to bake them off:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On a parchment lined baking tray, pat each ball out to roughly 1/2 inch high circles. Cut each circle into 8 wedges with a sharp knife and pull the wedges apart from each other, just slightly.

Additional step: I brushed half of the scones with cream and sprinkled coarse demerara sugar over the tops, just to see what they'd look like.

Set the scones in the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes.


Meanwhile
Squeeze some orange juice into the powdered sugar and combine for a smooth, thin glaze.


Transfer the baked scones to a tray to cool...


Then brush them with the orange glaze and let dry.

Packed up and ready to go!

We ate them with some tea and jam, lol...
Grandma enjoyed them :o)

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!