It’s Mardi Gras time! Laissez les bon temps rouler with these Mardi Gras Scones! I adapted my Butter Pecan Scones to include spices and flavorings normally used in the filling of the Mardi Gras Kings Cake.
The dry ingreients are tossed together with the orange zest.
Toast the pecans until fragrant, keeping a watchful eye to ensure they don’t get too browned. Allow them to cool. For the raisins, I prefer to use golden raisiins, but I only had sone regular raisins in the pantry. Pour some boiling water over them and let them soak for a few minutes and plunp up. Then, drain off the excess water. Add both to the flour mixture and toss to coat.
Grate 2 tablespoons of frozen unsalted butter at a time and gently toss to evenly distribute throughout the dry ingredients. Repeat until all the butter is grated. Place the bowl in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
Whisk together the heavy whipping cream,large egg and almond extract. Remove the bowl from the freezer and make a well in the center. Pour in the cream/egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until dough begins to hold together and dry ingredients are no longer visible. The mixture will still be crumbly in appearance.
Empty dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently press into a circular mound. Divide dough in half.
Take each half and form into flattened circle 6″ in diameter. Gently flatten the top with a rolling pin.
Place the scones onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with more heavy cream and sprinkle with some turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 14-17 minutes until lightly golden. If you prefer, and your oven has a convection setting, you could bake the last 3 minutes at a 350 degree setting. These were cooked 17 minutes using those specifications. Ovens vary, so be watchful.
Remove pan from the oven and set on cooling rack. After about 1-2 minutes, place the scones onto the rack by themselves. DO NOT leave them on the pan! When cooling, you want the heat to release from the bottom as well. Otherwise, if left on the pan, the heat will move upward through the scones creating a more moist scone and the texture will change.
Once cooled, mix up the icing ingredients and place in a small Ziploc bag. Make a small snip on one corner and drizzle it over the cooled scones. While icing is still wet, sprinkle the purple, gold and green sugar over the top. Allow them to air dry before storing in an air-tight container.
Here’s an up close and personal view of the Mardi Gras Scone. Looking at the sides you can see the flakiness in the visible layers.
Mardi Gras Scones
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 c dark brown sugar
- 1 T baking powder
- 1/2 t Kosher salt
- 1 t cinnamon
- 1/2 t nutmeg
- 1/4 t cloves
Fruit and Nuts:
- 3/4 c toasted chopped pecans
- 1/3 c raisins, regular or golden ,plumped in boiling water and drained
- 1 t orange zest
Dairy:
- 10 T unsalted butter, frozen or very cold
Wet Ingredients:
- 6 T heavy cream
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 t almond extract
Icing
- 1 c confectioner's sugar
- 3 T heavy cream
- 1 T orange juice
- 1 t orange zest
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Toast the pecans until fragrant. Watch carefully!
- Pour boiling water over the raisins. Once plumped, drain the water off.
- Toss the pecans and raisins into the dry ingredients to combine.
- Grate about 2 tablespoons of butter at a time over the flour and toss it to distribute.
- Place the bowl in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the cream, eggs and almond extract.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the cream/egg mixture. Stir until dough begins to hold together and all dry indredients are absorbed . It will be crumbly. Pour it onto a clean and lightly floured surface.
- Press together into a circular mound and cut in half. Press each half into a circle 6" in diameter of even thickness. Press with hand or use a rolling pin.
- Slice each circle into 6 equal sections and place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the tops with more heavy cream. Sprinkle with some turbinado sugar, if desired.
- Bake for about 14-17 minutes until lightly browned. If your oven has a convection setting, you may bake at 350°F (convection) for about 3 h minutes AFTER the first 14 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack for a couple of minutes, but no longer. Take the scones off the pan and place on the rack. This way, the heat will be released downward instead of upward through the scone. (Allowing them to stay on the rack while still on the pan will allow the heat to come up through the scone making them more moist and changing the texture. )
- Mix icing ingredients and place in a small Ziploc bag. Cut a small corner off from the plastic bag and drizzle over the cooled scones and sprinkle with purple, gold and green sprinkles. Allow icing to dry before storing. ENJOY!
