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    Home / Recipes / Course / Breakfast

    15 Mar 4, 2013 Breakfast  |   Jump to Recipe

    Orange Cardamom Scones

    Finished Scones

    This post may contain affiliate links.

    Last week, I mentioned that I recently started eating Paleo Monday – Friday.  So when my non-Paleo weekend arrived, I thought to myself, “What do I miss the most?  What am I really craving?”  Two things came to mind.  First, ice cream.  On Saturday evening, I treated myself to a sundae made with lemon cream ice cream, toasted pine nuts and sugar-plumped cherry sauce.  Second?  Pastry.  Flaky layers of tender, buttery pastry.  To satisfy this craving, I made a batch of these Orange Cardamom Scones on Sunday morning.  Golden rounds of orange and cardamom scented pastry are drizzled with a glaze made of orange juice, confectioners’ sugar and freshly ground cardamom seed.  So fragrant and so delicious.

    Over the years, I’ve made many batches of scones, and I’ve learned a number of key techniques along the way.  I still remember taking a bite of my first scone only to discover it was a dense mass of flour, butter and sugar filled with disappointed.  I’ll have to say I’ve come a long way since then.  It was around this time last year, that I tested out a new method for incorporating butter into the flour.  This method has a 100% success rate in creating pastry that is wonderfully light and flaky.  And the best part?  No special kitchen appliances needed!  Continue reading for the recipe and technique.

    Orange Zest

    The key to a perfect scone (and other flaky pastries) is in the butter.  Ice cold butter is incorporated into the dough, and as the scones cook, this butter melts and steams up.  The steam creates tiny pockets of air, providing a light and flaky texture.

    For many years, I utilized my food processor to make scones.  The blade did a fairly good job at cutting the butter evenly into the flour, but my finished product often varied in texture.  Last year, I thought to myself, “What if I grate the butter?”

    Hovering over a bowl filled with dry ingredients, I took a solid block of butter, and started grating.  As the tiny curls of butter accumulated in the bowl, I quickly give the contents a stir to incorporate.  I repeated this process a number of times until all butter had been grated into the flour.  Results?  Spectacular.  You can actually see the layers of tender, flaky pastry in the animated GIF below.

    I’ve been making scones this way ever since.  With no special kitchen appliances needed, this method is easy and dependable.  Grating the butter ensures even size and distribution throughout the dough.  Gentle stirring is a safeguard against over-mixing (another cause of tough scones).  You need to try this method out.

    Shaved Butter

    If you look really closely, you can see flecks of butter throughout the dough.  This means the scones will be the light and flaky.

    Cutting Scones 

    Finished Scones

    Orange Cardamom Scones

    by Brandon Matzek
    No ratings yet
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Servings 14 scones

    Ingredients
      

    For the scones:

    • 4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
    • 2 tablespoons baking powder
    • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom*
    • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
    • 3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, preferably frozen solid
    • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
    • 1 cup cold heavy cream
    • 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water, for the egg wash

    For the glaze:

    • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
    • 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
    • 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat and set aside. Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, ground cardamom and orange zest in a large bowl, whisking to combine and aerate. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate butter, one stick at a time, into the dry ingredients. Stir frequently to incorporate the butter shavings into the dry mixture.
    • Whisk together eggs and heavy cream, then slowly pour into the bowl with the butter-flour mixture. You’ll want to stir as you’re pouring. I would recommend using a sturdy wooden spoon. Stir just until blended. The dough will be sticky.
    • Turn dough out on to a well-floured surface, and knead it into a ball. Before kneading, I like to lightly dust the top of the dough and my hands with flour to keep the dough from sticking. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough to a 3/4-inch thickness. As you are rolling, turn the dough occasionally to keep it from sticking. Dip a 3-inch cookie cutter into flour and cut out circles of dough. Place scones on the prepared baking sheet (8 – 9 at a time). Reroll any scraps and cut as many circles as possible.
    • Brush the top of each scone with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake each batch of scones for 20 – 22 minutes until the scones are golden on top. Allow scones to cool for 15 minutes before glazing. While the scones are cooling, prepare the glaze. Combine confectioners’ sugar, cardamom and orange juice in a medium bowl, whisking until smooth. Drizzle over scones.

    Notes

    *Freshly ground cardamom has the best flavor. Place green cardamom pods into a mortar and pestle, and pound until the pods crack open and release the seeds within. Pick out pod shells, then finely grind seeds. If you don’t want to go through the trouble, you can certainly use pre ground cardamom.
    Tried this recipe?Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can check it out!

     

    Scone Drizzle

    15
    Brandon and Federico
    Brandon

    I’m Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Did you make a recipe? Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can see the how it went!

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    Categories: Breakfast Tags: all purpose flour, baking powder, butter, cardamom, confectioners' sugar, eggs, heavy cream, kosher salt, orange, sugar

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Averie @ Averie Cooks says

      March 4, 2013 at 12:01 pm

      Love the glaze GIF. NICE!

      And love that you grate in the butter. I have read I think a Cooks Illustrated recipe that does that with biscuits? I’ve never tried but your results speak for themselves. Gorgeous!

      Reply
    2. ahu says

      March 4, 2013 at 5:46 pm

      these look AMAZING!!! cardamom is my favorite spice!

      Reply
    3. Krystal R {Mrs. Regueiro's Plate} says

      March 4, 2013 at 8:48 pm

      These look amazing!! And what a great technique for butter, love the GIF!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 8, 2013 at 2:36 pm

        Thanks Krystal 🙂

        Reply
    4. Alan says

      March 6, 2013 at 11:08 am

      Hey Brandon, those scones look amazing!

      I would say, though, that if you want to keep on the Paleo boat and are looking into the things you miss and how to incorporate them, you should look at Elana’s Pantry, she does a lot of gluten-free baking (and actually falling within the Paleo guidelines).

      Also, coconut milk ice cream. Delectable!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 8, 2013 at 2:32 pm

        Thanks Alan! Do you have a recipe suggestion for that ice cream?

        Reply
        • Alan says

          March 13, 2013 at 2:56 pm

          I haven’t made my own yet – but I’ve seen some brands at my local Whole Foods. Now for recipes I’d vouch for Danielle’s recipe, I’ve had good results with her stuff!

          Reply
          • Alan says

            March 29, 2013 at 10:29 am

            Weird – I thought the link would show up since I use the HTML tags. Well, here it is

            http://www.againstallgrain.com/2012/02/02/french-vanilla-coconut-ice-cream/

            Reply
    5. Jon F says

      March 8, 2013 at 2:18 pm

      Made these tonight. These are delicious and easy to make. Grating the butter is genius.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 8, 2013 at 2:34 pm

        Thanks Jon! Glad you liked the scones.

        Reply
    6. Sasha says

      March 11, 2013 at 5:43 am

      Grating is my secret too! I never understood how to use a fork for this purpose anyway… 🙂

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 13, 2013 at 4:18 pm

        Haha yeah… Or smoothing the butter around between your fingers? Not necessary.

        Reply
    7. Jacki C. (TheDelightedLife) says

      March 15, 2013 at 10:13 am

      Thought these were going to be paleo scones and was over the moon with excitement. Since I’m full-time paleo but also secretly mad about scones, I might have to get creative with some modifications…

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 18, 2013 at 3:23 pm

        Let me know how it turns out! I’m just diving into the Paleo world, so I haven’t gotten to bread/pastry-making yet 🙂

        Reply
    8. Danny says

      March 15, 2013 at 4:24 pm

      Hi Brandon! Just found your site and these look wonderful! Beautiful photos and the flavors of cardamom and orange — yum! BTW, how did you do the last photo? Almost looks like a video but it’s not — very cool! Best, Danny

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 18, 2013 at 3:41 pm

        Thanks Danny! Welcome to the Kitchen Konfidence family 🙂 The last image is an animated GIF. I made it in photoshop.

        Reply
    9. Bev @ Bev Cooks says

      March 19, 2013 at 11:17 am

      Oh hawt diggidy daaaaangggaaaaaaa me wants this.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 21, 2013 at 6:30 am

        Haha, thanks Bev 🙂

        Reply
    10. Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies says

      March 19, 2013 at 12:43 pm

      These scones sound divine! And, let me say, eating Paleo Mon-Fri is a great idea, one I might have to consider adopting.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 21, 2013 at 6:31 am

        Thanks Jen! Yeah, that method seems to be working for me so far. I’m still losing weight! There might be a point when I stop losing, and I might need to adjust my eating. But so far, so good 🙂

        Reply
    11. Jessica @ Sunny Side Up says

      March 20, 2013 at 9:36 pm

      I’ve been grating my butter for about a year now and you’re right, the results are consistently awesome!! These scones are gorgeous!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 21, 2013 at 6:33 am

        Fantastic! What are your favorite type of scones to make?

        Reply
    12. stephanie @SeeStephRun.com says

      March 25, 2013 at 6:26 am

      What a delicious flavor combo! My husband has been eating Slow Carb for the last couple of months so I’ve been cooking a lot of paleo recipes (with some adjustments). I am looking forward to scoping out yours!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 25, 2013 at 8:41 am

        What are some of your favorite paleo recipes so far?

        Reply

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    Brandon and Federico

    I'm Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Read More…


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