Updating my favorite scone recipe

I have a sad baking story to share. It is the story of a person who forgot until after dinner one night that she needed a breakfasty baked good for a meeting the next morning and didn’t have all of the ingredients. Did that stop this baker? Of course not. She bravely mixed and matched the ingredients available to make something resembling her favorite orange cranberry scone recipe.

Not enough sour cream? No problem. Replace half of the missing amount with whipping cream and half with juice squeezed from the orange used for zest. Not enough dried cranberries? No problem. Replace half of the missing cranberries with dried cherries. Not enough flour? No problem. Replace half with the hubby’s bread flour. Feeling adventurous? Chop up those four kumquats you bought to expose your kid to something new and toss them into the mix. What’s one more alteration in an already mixed up recipe?
What’s the worst thing that could happen? No one will eat them? So what? You gave it your best, last minute try, right?

I’m here to tell you that that is actually not the worst thing that can happen. The very worst thing that can happen when you mix and match a recipe without really measuring much because you’re a super-star recipe maverick is that everyone will love it. It will be the best ever. Multiple grandmothers will pull you aside and ask for the recipe. Your favorite brother-in-law, the one who is a good cook, will love it. Your sister will talk about it days later with longing.

Why is this so bad? Because you’ll never make it exactly that way again. You didn’t really measure much of anything. Shame on you.

Here is my best approximation of my best ever scones:

New-and-improved Orange Cranberry Scone Recipe:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (half all purpose, half bread flour)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 4 chopped kumquats
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/8 cup whipping cream
• 1/8 cup fresh squeezed oj
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter and zest (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.
3. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream, cream, oj and egg until smooth.
4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

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