Sunday, November 9, 2014

Chocolate Scones with Orange, Cranberries and Pecans.

 

Ruby red
they shine
in darkness.

Crystal specks
offset white
in black.

Crunchy pillow
texture nestled
deep in cocoa.

...

Chocolate Scones with Orange, Cranberries and Pecans

time 20 minutes prep, 20 minutes chilling, 20 minutes baking time
yields 8 triangle scones

dough

150g butter
300g flour
25g cocoa powder
100g granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. himalayan salt
200ml buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. orange zest
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

100g fresh cranberries
50g pecans, chopped & toasted

topping

2 Tbsp. butter
coarse natural cane sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to  175°C/ 350°F.
Chop your pecans and toast them for 5 minutes.
Let cool.
Weigh all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Now mix the wets together: the buttermilk, egg, orange zest and vanilla extract.
Melt the butter and add it to the wets, giving it a short stir until the butter seized up slightly.
Mix the cranberries and pecans into your dries.
Make a small crater in the middle of your dries and pour the wets in.
Using a bowl scraper or a stiff spatula, fold the wets into the dries, pressing down the dough at each turn.
You do not want to over mix the dough so you achieve a light texture after baking.
Once all but a bit of the dries are incorporated, turn the dough onto a floured surface and proceed to flatten the dough out, folding it over in the middle and repeating this process once or twice.
Liberally flour your work surface in the process.
Once finished with the folding, coax the dough into a round shape, dust it off with more flour and press it or roll it so it's around 2,5-3 cm high.
Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter, brush the top with the butter and sprinkle it with natural cane sugar.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the scone feels firm to the touch in the middle.