“The moment Owen stepped into the boarding school kitchen, Annie pulled him to the table and sat him down across from her. Carefully she set a pot of steaming tea and her plate of warm orange and currant scones, with pots of marmalade and Devonshire cream between them.”—Promise Me This

Owen’s Favorite Orange and Currant Scones

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 cup sugar (raw or white)
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1⁄2 tsp. salt
• 1 stick (8 Tbsp.) cold butter, cut into pieces
• 3⁄4 cup currants
• 1egg
• 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
• Zest of two oranges
• Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease bottom of 8 or 9 inch square or round baking pan or sheet.
• Mix flour, sugar baking powder and salt together with fork (or pulse in a food processor) to combine. Cut butter into mixture (or pulse in processor) until the mixture looks like pea- sized crumbs. In a large bowl combine this mixture with currants. Separately, whisk together egg, heavy cream and orange zest. Combine with the flour mixture. Stir until moist and large clumps of dough form.
• Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead only until the dough forms one ball. Roll (flouring as needed) into a 9 inch square or round (depending on desired shape of scones), about 3⁄4 inch thick.
• Either cut the dough into small rounds, using a cutter, or cut the rounded or squared dough into eighths for large scones (or sixteenths for small scones), and place on cookie sheet or in baking pan. If using a round cake pan, you can even leave the dough in one large piece and score the top into sections, breaking or cutting when ready to serve.
• Sprinkle each scone lightly with raw sugar. Bake about 25 minutes or until the scones are slightly golden.
• Remove from pan and cool on rack at least 10 minutes before serving.
• Serve with butter, or orange marmalade and Devonshire cream

*Piping hot tea is the only other essential accompaniment ***Served warm, the melt in your mouth goodness of scones is part of British tea-time ritual.

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