Cran-Cherry Chocolate Scones

Every year my mother hosts a Christmas tea at her church. Different women volunteer and we can decorate however we like as long as we follow the theme chosen. I have done a table a few times in the past and I always like to give mine a literary twist. Such as the theme “Our Journey”, featuring shoes as it was about “the paths we take”: I chose to do a Wizard of Oz themed table.

For the “Friendship” theme, I went with A Little Princess.

Then there was the Holy Ghost themed tea, in which I had to do A Christmas Carol.

Last year the time was love and I of course had to do Pride and Prejudice. I used a bunch of decorations left over from my birthday party; such as reusing the table runners and Jane Austen framed quotes.

Mr. Darcy from Modesto Jane Con also made another appearance.

Each lady who sat at our table received a cute cameo pin as a gift.

The main dish and dessert are included with your ticket; but the host can provide snacks, candy, etc. I decided to do a little tea and provided a variety of tea bags, Devonshire scones, Teatime Magazine’s Chocolate Cran-Cherry Scones, mock clotted cream, and Belgian chocolates shaped like cupcakes.

The original recipe for the Chocolate Cran-Cherry Scones was originally supposed to be Cherry Chocolate scones, but the store was out of dried cherries, so I went with Cran-Cherries instead. This recipe comes from their 2022 November/December issue.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into pieces
• 1⁄4 cup dried cran-cherries
• 1⁄2 (4-ounce) bar dark chocolate, chopped; or 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips
• 3⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cold heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
5. Stir in cran-cherries and chocolate.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together 3⁄4 cup cream, vanilla extract, and egg yolk.
7. Add to flour mixture, stirring until a shaggy dough begins to form.
8. Working gently, bring mixture together with hands until a dough forms. (If mixture seems dry and dough won’t come together, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.)
9. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently by patting dough and folding it in half until smooth, 4 to 5 times.
10. Using a rolling pin, roll dough to a 3⁄4-inch thickness.
11. Using a 2-inch round cutter dipped in flour, cut 12 scones from dough without twisting cutter, rerolling scraps as needed.
12. Place scones 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
13. Freeze for 15 minutes.
14. Brush tops of scones with remaining 1 tablespoon cream.
15. Bake until edges of scones are golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean, approximately 15 to 18 minutes.

These were delicious and everyone ate them up, there were none left. I don’t know about you but running out always means a good thing.

For more scone recipes, go to Lemon Cake Box Mix Scones

For more cranberry scones, go to Cranberry Orange Scones

For more chocolate scones, go to Dark Chocolate Peppermint Scones

For more tea time, go to Spill the Tea: Proper Rose Garden

For more recipes, go to The Nicest Cold Luncheon in the World: Making My Version of Lydia’s Welcome Tea for our Book Club Meeting