So I have totally fallen in love… and it’s with blood oranges.
I think this happens about this time every year. I always anticipate when blood oranges will start popping up in grocery stores, and despite living in LA, the land where you can find anything everywhere, I’ve only been able to pick up blood oranges at Whole Foods.
Don’t think I haven’t stocked up and made a million blood orange variations of everything. Earlier this week I shared my winter citrus salad where they had a key role and I also made some tasty blood orange curd.
These scones are so full of citrus flavor and are probably one of the prettiest things I’ve ever made. I started making these the night before, because anytime I can do something ahead of time and sleep in a little later on a Saturday, I’m going to be doing just that.
I cut one blood orange in half, and then thinly sliced each half to make the candied blood oranges. I then mixed some water and sugar in a pan and placed the blood orange slices in so that none were overlapping. I let that cook, flipping over once, for about 20 minutes. You’re orange slices should become malleable and the sauce should start to turn a pink/red hue. I let that cool just a bit and put in an airtight container.
The next morning I made the scones, and you’ll definitely want to do that day of. These scones taste best fresh. Speaking of these blood orange scones, they have the most delicious citrus flavor. That is because you grate some of the zest from the peel into the sugar and massage it until fragrant. This really helps to flavor the scone and give it another layer of blood orange.
I then layed out the candied blood orange slices on a piece of parchment and mixed some of the leftover blood orange syrup with some powdered sugar to make the most beautiful and delicious blood orange glaze.
Once the scones are done cooking, simply let them cool for a bit. You don’t want them too warm that the glaze won’t cool. Once they’re cool to the touch, drizzle with your homemade glaze and top with the candied orange slices.
These gorgeous, citrus little treats not only taste amazing but will surely impress!
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons blood orange zest
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 blood orange
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-4 tablespoons blood orange syrup
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add sugar and blood orange zest. Massage together with your hands until fragrant and zest is evenly dispersed throughout.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt to bowl and whisk together.
- Grate the frozen butter and add to the flour mixture. Combine using a pastry cutter or two knives until mixture resembles coarse sand. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cream, egg and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, stirring just to combine..
- Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle that is about 4" x12".
- Cut into four equal pieces and then cut each piece diagonally to form 8 triangle scones.
- Transfer the scones to the baking sheet and bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked through.
- Wash the orange and dry thoroughly. Cut the orange in half lengthwise, then using a sharp knife make thin slices of the orange.
- Pole out any seeds in the slices with a toothpick.
- In a saute pan, combine the sugar and water over medium high heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves and then add the orange slices, making one single layer with none overlapping.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer 20-30 minutes, turning the slices at least once.
- Remove from the heat and store in a container until ready to use.
- Mix the sifted powdered sugar and blood orange syrup from the candied oranges in a bowl until mixture is smooth. Adjust the consistency of the glaze by adding more or less syrup.
- Place scones on a wire rack a slowly spoon glaze over top. Layer candied oranges over glaze and let set until glaze has started to dry. Serve immediately.
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I love citrus season!! These scones looks so delicious and cute at the same time. I could really really eat one of this right now with my cup of coffee. Have a great weekend! Pinned.
Thanks Oriana – I love citrus season!
So lovely! I haven’t had any blood oranges this season yet. Must seek them out.
I had the hardest time finding them – good luck!
These scones are beautiful!! I’ve never had a blood orange, but I think I’m going to have to search for them. I love scones and really want to try these! Great photos 🙂
Thanks Keri! I really love blood oranges, but they are only in season for such a short time (December to February) so definitely start looking!
Candied blood orange slices.. oh my! These look amazing and I featured it on my weekly breakfast roundup post: http://www.theworktop.com/favorite-breakfast-recipes/feb-6-2015/!
Thank you Tina!
Jessica, this is such a unique recipe, and I love that the scones don’t have all that much sugar added into them! Can’t wait to give it a whirl! xo (Found you from Tina’s roundup!)
-Chloe
Thanks Chloe!
Baking scones is my happy place, theyre my all time favorite bakery item. These look divine, I will be trying them out this weekend without a doubt. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Taylor
http://www.tspoonfulofsugar.com
Thanks Taylor – scones are one of my favorite too!
Beautiful scone pictures! Pinned them to my breakfast board. 🙂
Thanks Jenna!