Chocolate & orange...perfect all by themselves, but such a scrumptious union of flavors when they are brought together.
It only seemed right that they should come together to make a perfect scone. I can't believe that I've never come across this combination in a scone before.
So let's get started by preheating the oven to 400°F. By the time your oven is ready, your scones should be in the shaping stage. (that's how quick and easy these are to make)
I grab my Kitchenaid mixer and use the paddle attachment to make this super simple dough. Start with 2 cups of all-purpose flour...
Add 1 Tbsp. baking powder...
And 1/4 tsp. baking soda...
Give it a quick stir (on LOW) just to get things mixed nicely...
Then 1 tsp. of sea salt...
We need a little sugar, so add 1/3 cup of granulated sugar. Give it another quick little stir to get all of that sugar incorporated.
Then take a small grater or zester and a medium sized orange...and start grating that wonderful skin releasing the orange's oils. Be careful not to zest the pith (white) of the orange though...we don't want that in our mix.
Give it a quick stir just to get the orange zest distributed through the flour mixture.
Time to turn the attention to the butter...COLD butter. Start by slicing 1/4" pieces of butter (or breaking them off)...
Then slice again into cubes. This will help it while mixing...cold cubes are better than cold slices.
Next, the cold cubes of butter go into the mixing bowl.
Mix on the lowest speed setting until pea sized balls begin to form. (about 4-6 minutes)
In a small mixing bowl add one egg....
Give that egg a little beating...
Measure out 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and add it to the egg.
Mix the egg and cream together.
Turn the mixer on the lowest speed setting, then add the egg & cream mixture to the dry ingredient mixture...
Make sure to do it on low speed so that the kitchen doesn't get a dusting.
Mix just until incorporated. The dough should be slightly sticky.
Then we just plop our dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
I like cutting my dough in half...then either using it to make half a batch of another type of scone (like The Keys' Key Lime Scones or Cranberry Orange Scones, which is what I'm doing this time)
or wrapping it in saran wrap (and then in a freezer bag) and storing it for later use.
Time for the CHOCOLATE!!! I love Ghirardelli's 60% Cocoa Chips...but if you have semi-sweet chocolate chips, they will work just fine as they do in this batch. For me, the darker the chocolate, the better...when I haven't already consumed them all.
Taking 1/2 cup of chocolate morsels, I give 'em a good chopping. Not too uniform though, leaving some larger pieces to pop up in the scones is really quite alright.
These little morsels get a quick toss in very little flour. Sifting chocolate slivers from flour is a bit difficult, so I just use 1/2 teaspoon of flour to start with and then add a little more if needed. (that way I don't have to sift the chocolate from the flour)
Pour the chocolate chips onto the dough and begin to quickly work the chips into it by folding & kneading.
I tend to fold it in, then separate it into three balls, then fold those back in again. It doesn't have to be even or perfect... that's the beauty of scones.
Then press, or roll with a floured rolling pin, the dough into a 3/4"-1" thick slab. When doing this, Be sure to move the dough around so that the dough doesn't stick to the surface. Add flour to the surface area as needed.
Then take a biscuit or cookie cutter (I like the cookie cutters) and dip it into a little flour before pressing out the scones. This will allow the cutter to release the dough easily.
Place the scones onto a baking sheet lines with parchment paper or a silpat. If you don't have one, put it on your Wish List and broadcast it to everyone you know.
Next step, take an egg and a tablespoon of water and mix them to make an egg bath.
Then take that egg bath and with pastry brush…
Apply it to the top of each scone.
The last step before putting them into an oven…sprinkle the top of each scone with sugar (granulated or raw).
Then into the preheated oven (400°F) for 15-20 minutes. (time varies by size & thickness, these took 16 minutes)
Remove the scones from the oven once they are golden brown and firm to the touch. Move the scones to a cooling rack and allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes.
While cooling, take half of the orange that was used for zesting and juice it.
Oh yeah, we're going to make an orange glaze!
Be sure to strain out any seeds and pulp...they make the glaze not so pretty.
Measure 4 Tablespoons of orange juice and add 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) to the orange juice.
Then I start by using a rubber spatula or spoon to mix the sugar into the juice...followed by a whisking to get all of the little balls of sugar broken up and incorporated.
And when it’s done, there is a wonderful glaze that is ready to drizzle over the scones. Drizzle…just enough to make them look even more inviting and pretty.
Be sure to place a cutting board or parchment paper under the cooling rack for this step…or your counter will become extremely sticky welcoming every ant in the neighborhood.
Just look at how desirable these little beauties are! And did I mention how amazing they smell?
Now that you've seen how easy it is...go make some for yourself!
