Agatha Christie’s Fig and Orange Scones with Devonshire Cream
Rumor has it that these scones were Agatha Christie’s favorite food. Apparently she was quite the foodie. She served these with homemade clotted cream made the old fashioned way which takes a lot of time and patience that I don’t have so I made a short cut on the cream. She also used fresh figs which I was unable to find. I would definitely not skip the cream.. Agatha made me realize I was doing scones wrong without cream all this time! The jam is also a special touch but not necessary. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Ingredients (Makes 8 scones):
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 Tbs grated orange zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
~1 cup dried figs, chopped into small pieces. Soak in juice from 1 orange to rehydrate for a few minutes then drained.
Cream ingredients:
3 oz. cream cheese
3 Tbs sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup whipping cream
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and orange zest.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, fork, or with your fingers until it resembled coarse crumbles.
Add rehydrated and drained figs. Toss lightly to mix throughout.
Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture. Mix with a spatula until mixture climbs together. Careful not to overtax.
On a floured countertop, gather mixture into a ball and knead once or twice to combine. Pat into a half-inch thick circle. Cut into 8 triangles like a pie.
Place on lined baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned.
While baking, make the cream by beating together the cream cheese, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer.
Slowly add whipping cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Place in the refrigerator.
Once scones are done baking, place on a cooling rack. Best served warm with cream. You can cut the scones in half and put cream in the middle (add optional jam) similar to the picture or just serve on top.
Enjoy!
I am so excited for you to try this recipe! If you post a picture, please tag me @RachelMasterKitchen and Hashtag #Rachel.Master.Kitchen on instagram!
