When my brother-in-law sent me a newspaper clipping with a recipe for cranberry-orange scones I wasn’t all that interested.  The only scones I’d ever tasted were from a local chain store bookseller with a coffee shop set up in the corner.  I was not impressed.  The label said raspberry scone but any hint of juicy berry was lost in a dry, flavorless crumb.  The newspaper clipping sang the praises of scones, though, so the dried cranberries and orange zest and buttermilk were all duly purchased for the next day’s market bake.  To my complete surprise they were a hit.  Next week we made more.  They all sold.  More the next week. There began to be some positive feedback  so I soon found myself scouting recipes for variations. We played with fresh fruits, dried fruits, frozen fruits, nuts, spices, extracts.  Eventually we settled on three basic types of scone dough: buttermilk, yogurt, and cream.  Of all the varieties we’ve made over the years, these raspberry scones made with yogurt are the most popular and are always in the case.

It’s easy to swap out the raspberries for blueberries, blackberries, or a mix of any similar kind of berry. Frozen berries are easiest to use.  If you work quickly and carefully you can mix them into the dough without breaking them up too much, by adding the frozen berries to the dry ingredients before introducing the yogurt and eggs.  Try adding a bit of lemon or orange extract and some zest, or flavored yogurt to add another level of taste, or white chocolate chunks or chips.  We usually drizzle plain powdered sugar icing over them after baking. Sometimes there’s leftover cream cheese frosting around so we thin it with a little milk and drizzle that instead for a especially rich taste.

These can be frozen ready to bake, or fully baked.  Warm them briefly in a microwave and drizzle on the icing before serving with coffee or tea.

Joan, 2 January 2016