Tea Time Tuesday: Cranberry Orange Scones

Welcome to Tea Time Tuesday!

     This week both Lilian and I suggested scone recipes for our second Tea Time treat.  Hah! That worked out to be a literal statement, as the recipe was from Tea Time Magazine!  Then we each had the same idea on changing the original recipe with its use of raisins to dried cranberries.   Now, since neither one of us are perfect, you'll get to read all about our mishaps and solutions.

Pour yourself a cup of tea, and enjoy reading about our newest T^3 adventure!  Cheers!

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I've got the recipe & items ready to begin the baking adventure!	Ingredients are all mixed, finally making a nice, kind of sticky dough.

The Inspiration

Tea Time Magazine was first a wonderful hidden gem I found while at my neighborhood grocery store.  I had only ever dreamt of a magazine dedicated to tea parties & stories, food and wonderful tea houses with reviews to go visit!  The issue unveiled at my grocery store was their November/December 2015 issue with a gorgeous red velvet cake on the cover.  Now it was a great issue but Lilian and I felt like trying something a little more classic and traditional, hence the scones.

Silly me just went onto the internet and searched for "tea party recipes" forgetting all about Tea Time magazine having a website [duh, Jenn!].  Luckily they were first or so on the results page.  There were so many different recipes, it was incredible.  I clicked on "The Secret Garden Tea Party" hoping to read an article on it, but it was from a past issue and just had the recipes from it.  If anyone happens to have the July/August 2015 issue of Tea Time, Let Me Know! ;-)

The Recipe Coming Together,

and then falling apart.

The recipe seemed like everything was coming together well as I was getting started.  Albeit a messy process with the orange zest [everything being stained orange!].  Mixing everything together was going well until adding heavy whipping cream.  Using the first amount called for it still felt dry and wasn't forming a solid ball.  So, following the guidance of the instructions, I  began to add more tablespoons of the cream.  Then I noticed my mistake...I wasn't using my hand to form the ball as I missed that small line of text!  Thankfully it wasn't too wet and still felt like a good dough, just a little more sticky then I preferred.  This I felt was mostly only a concern for when rolling it out on the counter, needing to use extra flour to keep it from adhering to the work surface.

Enter mishap number two.  I forgot to grab my rolling pin height guide rings and just began rolling out the dough.  You can see where this is going, right?  The dough ended up being too thin to match the look of the recipe photo [well that, and I didn't have a square cutter.], although they weren't paper thin.  I only noticed there might have been an issue when I was using my egg-shaped cookie cutter and ended up with almost TWENTY scones! [original recipe yields 14]   Now fully aware these are going to be less dense, I used the lower bake time and kept a close watch on them in the oven. 

Even now, as I'm typing up this post I surprised myself with another missed one-liner!  [If you could only see me shaking my head over here, it's like a sad panda y'all!]  There was a step at the very end, right before sticking them in the oven I just now saw.  It states "Brush tops of scones with remaining 2 tablespoons cream." and I'm like, "Hmm, would that have  helped them feel less dry? They weren't bad, how necessary or crucial was that step?".  Maybe, Lilian can tell me if that helped.  Gosh! At this point I am just happy they tasted good!

Antique tea cup and saucer set from my grandmother,

containing my white tea and two scones.

Time for the Tea!

Sadly, my mesh tea ball for loose whole leaf teas was ruined recently.  So that means no "fancy" teas this time around [I'm so sad!].  Now, you may be thinking..."what about tea bag filters for loose leaves?".  I thought surely I had some left somewhere.  Searching high and low in my kitchen and pantry, there were none to be found.  Leaving me to my semi-basic bagged tea collection; some may [my hubby] call it a small 'stockpile'.  LOL!

Finding the last of my assorted tea sampler box by Tazo, I chose Berryblossom White® white tea.  Thinking it would pair nicely with my very thin scones, without over powering their flavors.  And it did play well off of cranberry-orange combination.  The tea also had a cranberry note to it, with the packet stating "Delicate white tea, hints of blueberry and white cranberry".  It was just a refreshing pair, and I hadn't intended to have two cranberry items.  Although, the blueberry was the more notable taste and aroma, which I liked.

What are Your Thoughts?

Do you have any favorite treats or savories you enjoy with tea?  Are there any teas or recipes you think we should try?  Let me know in the comments right below this post!

Experience the other half of T^3!

+Lilian Brennan over on Petticoat Pedaler also baked this same recipe. Take a look at how things went for them and what type of tea they tried it with!


Until We Meet Again,

Plum Petite