Cranberry Cream Scones

"The scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, but are eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea." - Wikipedia

I have always been fascinated by Great Britain.  I love the literature, the climate, the costume dramas... and, of course, the food.  While British food, in general, might be a little on the bland side, they definitely know how to make buttery, delicious breads.  Though, I do have to note, that a lot of the good British things came from Scotland.

Today, I'm making scones.  But not just any scones.  Cranberry Cream Scones.

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Cranberry Cream Scones (from Alton Brown)

2 cups all-purpose flour (I made these with 1.5 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut butter into small cubes and chill.  In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Add chilled butter and shortening, mix until it looks like mealy. I use a pastry blender, but you can also squeeze the butter into the flour with your fingers.

In a separate bowl (I use a measuring cup) mix the cream and egg (beat them together), then add to the flour mixture and stir in the fruit.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface.  Gently knead once or twice to make sure the cranberries are evenly distributed.  Roll out to about 1/2inch thick and cut into biscuit sized rounds.  You can make them pretty much any shape, they puff up the best if they have a cut edge rather than just spooning them down.

Bake for 15min until golden brown and delicious.

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These delicious scones go amazingly well with clotted cream and honey.  They are a perfect match with tea.  And I have made them with about 2 Tablespoons of chopped up candied ginger and they're awesome.  I used the same recipe to make plain scones (leave out the cranberries) and cheese, chive & garlic scones - I kept the sugar in, but you could leave it out to make them more savory.

At some point in the near future, I will probably try making them with protein powder, since I have been trying to figure out some way of taking protein after workouts that doesn't involve chugging a shake.

(citations: Wikipedia, Alton Brown via Food Network)