Afternoon Tea and a Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe

*Sorry for a crappy picture!

A couple weeks ago, I invited some of my Thousand Oaks friends over for some afternoon tea. Afternoon tea (according to wikipedia) is a snack eaten between 3-5pm and originated from England. Finger food like savory sandwiches and tasty desserts are served along with tea of course.

I've had afternoon tea twice in the US, but they don't compare to the ones my friends have had in Asia or other parts of the world. The spread of the afternoon tea and the trays of glorious food that was served was mouth watering and oh so tempting. So, I wanted to create that experience at my home. I baked/made a couple different items and bought a yummy petit four cake sampler from Trader Joe's to put together a spread of afternoon tea for 5 people. Here's what was served at tea; homemade Cranberry Orange Scones (recipe at the end of this post), Egg Salad Profiteroles, Salmon Cucumber Sandwich, Jam Thumbprint Cookies, Strawberry Cream Profiteroles, Trader Joe's petit four selection, Nokdujeon (Korean Savory Mung Bean Pancake) by my friend, some fresh fruits and of course tea!

How can I serve afternoon tea without scones?? So, I made some scones the day of the afternoon tea to make sure I serve the freshest batch of homemade scones to serve to my friends. As I was unable to find clotted cream/devonshire cream, I just served scones with some jam. I googled for a scone recipe and decided to go with one I found on all recipes and was utterly pleased with the results . Here's the recipe for some yummy Cranberry Orange Scones adapted from all recipes with just a minor tweak.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES RECIPE
Ingredients

• 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, Frozen
• 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
• 1 Tsp Grated Orange Zest
• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 Tsp Vanila
• 2 Large Egg 

Method

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat at 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter (using large hole box grater) into flour mixture and use your fingers to work in butter so that mixture resemble a coarse meal. Stir in cranberries and orange zest.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and 1 egg until smooth.  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.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface flight roll dough until it's about 3/4 inch thick. Using your favorite cookie cutter ( about 2-3 inch diameter), "cut" out the scones  and place on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper or foil) about 1 inch apart. Beat the remaining egg, and brush egg wash on the scones. Bake until golden brown for about 15-17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy! And don't forget a cuppa hot tea to go with it.

Simply June