Warm Cranberry Scones with Orange Glaze, The Secret Garden Cookbook by Amy Cotler. Photography by Alison Bickel.
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s wonderful tale The Secret Garden celebrates its young heroine, Mary Lennox, as she brings an abandoned garden back to life. It also delights in good food, robust appetites, and the health and strength they can bring.
It describes a world where water, light, and loving care bring soil and plants back to life—and also one in which fresh milk, homemade currant buns, and hearty, simple fare renew and bring pleasure to the novel’s complex and fascinating characters.
Amy Cotler serves up in these pages 50 recipes, all updated for the modern kitchen, that are at once true to Mary’s world and completely appealing for today’s tastes.
You will find a bounty of baked things, including English Crumpets, Cozy Currant Buns, Warm Cranberry Scones, Jam Roly Poly, Dough Cakes with Cinnamon and Sugar, and The Best Sticky Gingerbread Parkin. (A parkin is a cake rich in molasses, honey, and sugar that often is served on Guy Fawkes Day.) There is the more-substantial and savoury fare for teatime and dinnertime, too, and for breakfast and brunch, along with drinks and snacks for the daily whirl—all guaranteed to keep the magic of this beloved tale alive for years to come.
The Secret Garden Cookbook is an essential companion—and the pitch-perfect gift—for anyone, young or old, who loves the book.
The Secret Garden Cookbook, Newly Revised Edition: Inspiring Recipes from the Magical World of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.ca.
Warm Cranberry Scones with Orange Glaze
Scones make classic tea fare. Serve them warm, right of out of the oven as is, or accompanied by marmalade and clotted cream. For a variation, add ½ cup (72 g) currants instead of the cranberries to make Yorkshire scones called “fat rascals.” Clotted cream can be found in most specialty shops.
SCONES
2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (112 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup (40 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup (72 g) dried cranberries
Zest of 1 orange (reserve orange for juice)
½ cup (112 g) plain yogurt
¼ cup (60 ml) water
ORANGE GLAZE
1 tablespoon (15 ml) orange juice, or more if needed
½ cup (60 g) confectioners’ sugar
- Preheat the oven to 375F (190C, or gas mark 5)
- To make the scones, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Blend the butter into the dry mixture using your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs and no large pieces remain. Add the oats, cranberries, and orange zest, reserving the orange for the glaze. Lightly combine, then stir in the yogurt and water. Mix lightly to combine again.
- Push the dough gently together on floured parchment paper. Knead by pushing the dough away from you with the heels of your hands, then folding toward you. Repeat about 4 times just until it will hold together.
- Pat the dough into a circle about 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter. Using a floured knife, cut the dough across its diameter to make 8 equal wedges. Move the parchment with the scones on them to a baking sheet and gently separate the scones.
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the orange juice and confectioners’sugar in a small bowl until combined. It should be thin enough to brush on the scones, so add a touch more orange juice if needed. When the scones are still warm but not piping hot, drizzle or brush them with the glaze. Serve warm. Makes 8 scones
Recipe reprinted with permission from Harvard Common Press.
Loved baking these. The recipe is so precise and the final product came out almost the same. Thank you for sharing these. Please share a recipe on how to make macrons.
Hi Dimitri,
Glad you liked the recipe.
For macarons, check out: https://coolfooddude.com/2020/05/23/white-chocolate-and-raspberry-macarons/
Marc a.k.a. CoolFoodDude