Blueberry orange scones

I got my new iPhone 4S recently! And may I just say that I love it! One primary reason being that I get to play with all the photography apps - especially Instagram and 美图秀秀. Oh, and it keeps me entertained too as I can check my mail, Facebook, tweet and play games. Let's just hope my iPhone 4S and I will have a happy ending, unlike my previous iPhone 3...

Anyway, it's Christmas (soon anyway). Have been receiving lots of love from the colleagues at work and my friends whom I doing gift exchanging with. I guess it's the season of giving! I must confess, I'm a very last minute shopper, I was still doing last minute shopping yesterday...battling with the crowds is no fun, so I should probably not procrastinate next year!

I baked some blueberry orange scones a few weeks back when blueberries were in season. I bought blueberries non-stop during then. Whenever I pass by a grocery store, regardless of the fact that there should be at least four punnets at home already, I'll still buy one (or two) more...I'm such a hoarder.

Blueberry orange scones served alongside homemade blueberry preserves and blueberry banana smoothie

I froze at least six (I lost count) punnets of blueberries so yeps, there'll be no lack of blueberry goodies in the coming months. I ate alot of them fresh with my cereal for breakfast, I made blueberry preserves, I blended them in smoothies, and I used them for these blueberry orange scones. I also persuaded my Sis to make a batch of blueberry ice cream for me today. Yeps, that's a lot of blueberries I'm talkin' about. ;)

I've been toying with the idea of trying out new scones recipes even though I'm very pleased with my all-time favourite recipe. After the previous one here and this, I still can't find something that beats my all-time favourite. I'm not sure if I will try another new recipe again soon or just stick to the usual, but hey, the experiments has been fun. 

While these are not the best scones I've ever tasted, they tasted quite good with bursts of blueberry in each mouthful. It was made even blueberr-ier when I spread my homemade blueberry preserves on them. Nom nom nom. One reason why I wasn't too happy with these is because the dough was very very sticky (for me at least) and I had a hard time cutting rounds out. And the scones actually expanded like crazy balloons in the oven. I had to reshape them again halfway through baking so that the scones would not be like oversized cookies. I don't think the previous bakers had any issues with this, so I'm not too sure why I did. Sigh.

Merry Christmas anyway folks!

Blueberry orange scones (from Christa at La Petite Brioche)
220g all-purpose flour
115g sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated orange zest
113g cold unsalted butter, grated
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold whipping cream
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
extra heavy cream for brushing the tops
raw sugar for sprinkling the tops

Preheat the oven to 200C.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed. Combine the egg and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy. Add the blueberries to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick.
Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles.
Brush the tops of the scones with heavy creme, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch.