Wedged Bread

What better way to follow up a post about tea than to talk about scones? I can still remember my first scone like it was yesterday. At least I shall classify it as a scone since I had it with tea and it was made by a British grandmother-type. No, I am not joking. The first scone I had was in the lovely hamlet of Bargoed, Wales. I was there with a group from church doing Bible clubs and football, rugby, and coffeehouse outreach. The ladies of the church fed us well with raisin cakes/scones. I remember tolerating the raisin cakes, being as they were a bit dry and "thick."

Next scone memory - the cranberry walnut scone from Schlotzsky's Deli. Something I never would have tried had I not worked at Schlotzsky's. Mainly because I do not eat at Schlotzsky's much. This scone was huge! Wedge-shaped, filled with tart cranberries and toasted walnuts, topped with a sugary crust. It was divine.

My first attempt at making scones was thanks to a family friend who had a great peach harvest and gave my family some pounds of leftovers. My mom asked me to make peach scones. A lot of slicing and even more sticky mess. result - okay scones, do not remember them as being too scone-like with all the fresh fruit happening. More like an open-faced turnover.

Then. Then I found her. I do not remember how I came across her, but it was love at first sight. Dried Cherry Almond Scones. I have tempted officemates, friends, enemies, and family alike with this one. Flaky bread, huge sweetly tart dried cherries, glorious almond perfume, slight crunch from toasted almonds and sugar top. It is a masterpiece every single time I make them. (Recipe intentionally not linked to. Why? Because she is mine, mine, I tell you! All mine! And I am not sure where I would find it. And I am selfish, keeping all the scone glory to myself and those who eat them.)

She and I have had a happy relationship over the years, caring for one another in times of need, like brunches, cross country car rides and care packages. But variety is the spice of life, so I ventured on in quest of the next scone. I found it on my birthday. In the instruction manual for my new Kitchenaid Food Processor. I know, who thought of looking in an instruction manual for recipes? Well, with Kitchenaid they can be found. And they are pretty good, as my refrigerator can attest to. I currently have Kitchenaid Cinnamon Bread, white bread, pizza dough and hummus in it. No joke.

Back to the scones. Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Scones, courtesy of Kitchenaid. Grated orange peel, a whole cup of dried cranberries, yummy oats. All quite good. Used my handy dandy processor to do all the mixing and chopping work for me, kneaded the dough a few times, formed it into a circle on parchment paper, cut it into wedges and cooked. Easy as pie, except it is scones. One of the issues with scones that can occur is they can be a little dense. More like holding a brick in your hand than a baked pastry good. And I had my qualms about this one going into it. Oats are not known for being light or fluffy.

Took the scones out of the oven and drizzled orange glaze on the tops. The orange glaze is enough to make me cry - 1/4 teaspoon orange peel, some powdered sugar and fresh squeezed orange juice. Let them cool a little, enough so I would not scald my mouth, dove in.

First impression - Good gracious is this moist and flaky and light! It melts in your mouth. The tart with the sweet with the oaty. Beautiful. Upon further eating, I recognized some things that I would like to amend for batch two. The cranberries were indeed chopped in the processor, a little too much. I wanted larger chunks. Maybe next time I will add them toward the end, or chop half a cup and leave the other half whole. The glaze was a little too sweet, a little more orange juice needed next time. Or orangier orange juice. But overall a hit in my opinion.

What I enjoy about both the cherry scone and cranberry orange scone recipes is that it is easy for me to envision how to amend them. I can switch out dried fruit for different dried fruit, orange peel for nuts or another citrus/extract flavor. The possibilities are limitless.