After Thanksgiving, I was left with cranberries, cream, and crystallized ginger, and then my friend Jill gave me a lemon from the tree in her backyard. Seriously…a real, live lemon tree!
When life gives me cranberries, cream, crystallized ginger, and a lemon, I make scones….a few weeks later! Nothing had gone bad because I froze the cranberries, the cream was unopened, and I put the lemon in the fridge. Still, I meant to make these at an earlier point.
Originally, I was going to use this recipe from Joy of Baking, but add in the lemon/ginger/cranberriness. Then while I was looking up how to freeze scones, I found that there was already a lemon cranberry cream scone recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Figured I couldn’t go wrong with Deb!
This was only the second time that I’ve made scones, but these are very different from my first batch. Aside from these being sweet (the others were savory), they’re much more moist since they are cream scones. If you’re someone who thinks scones are too dry, I would recommend this type of scone.
These taste good, but I altered the amounts that I actually used to make the ginger stronger and cardamom less so. I also didn’t have quite enough zest, so they could have been more lemony. I didn’t do anything to the structure of the scones, and wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Lemon Ginger Cranberry Cream Scones
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Since scones are best the day they’re baked, I’d recommend flash freezing these if you’re not going to eat them all on the first day. This just means to freeze them on a flat surface (I used a cutting board) so that they’re not touching. When they’re frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and keep frozen until ready to bake. You’ll only need to add 3 to 5 minutes to the baking time.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons additional
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (I got a little over 1 tablespoon from my lemon)
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped (I used 1 tablespoon)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, optional (I used 1/2 teaspoon and thought it was too much)
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter, lemon zest, and cardamom (if using). Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. (Alternatively, you may do all of this in a food processor, then transfer to a large bowl.)
In a small bowl, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar with the cranberries, then stir into the flour mixture.
In another small bowl, lightly beat the egg and the yolk, then stir in the cream. Pour the egg/cream mixture into the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir until just combined.
With floured hands, transfer the dough to a well-floured surface, and pat into a 1 inch thick round. Using either a 2 inch biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass, cut rounds out of the dough. Keep reforming the scraps and cutting rounds until you run out of dough (I was able to get 9 scones). If freezing, see note above. To bake, place scones 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the middle of the oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until pale golden.
Deb says that these keep for 1 day if wrapped in plastic wrap and foil in the fridge, or for 1 week in the freezer.
Of course it was dark by the time I baked a couple of these… At least it’s lit by the Christmas tree? :)
Victoria (District Chocoholic) said:
Sounds like a tasty flavor combination – and with cream! Yum. So cool that your friend gave you a lemon tree.
Babygirl said:
Very yummy recipe
Bailey Benoit said:
These are just super, super, super.. my favorite ginger, cranberry… oh it looks so good.. did you have clotted cream to go with?
Jill said:
Right. On.
Kylie @ A Hungry Spoon said:
These honestly look heavenly–I love to bake healthy when I can, but I swear that a really good scone requires real cream :)
I also LOVE cranberry and lemon together–what a great combo! And how cool that your friend actually has a real lemon tree! Amazing. It’s unheard of up in our climate :)
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
UrMomCooks said:
Great flavor combination! Scones are a perfect treat for Christmas week! These sound delicious!
Jessica said:
Victoria – She gave me a lemon, not the tree! ;)
Bailey – No, I don’t have any clotted cream. Thought about making some mock Devonshire cream (is that the same thing? I don’t know) but decided there was enough cream in these!
Jill – Thanks for the lemon! Now help me eat these.
Kylie – Yeah, I figured these would be ok to make if I froze most of them. I’m now a cream scone convert!
UrMomCookes – Thanks! Definitely a good idea to freeze these for Christmas morning.
Victoria (District Chocoholic) said:
Bahaha I should try reading. I saw the picture of the tree and thought it was all yours.
Mary at n00bcakes said:
I am definitely a scone skeptic…but if you can promise that they won’t be hard and dry, perhaps I will give something like these a whirl. Even if they don’t have chocolate in them. ^_^
Jessica said:
Victoria – ha! Well, I wish I owned it. :)
Mary – My sister saw this post and asked where the white chocolate was. XD
Jill said:
I miss these.
Jessica said:
Mmm, me too.
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