Orange And Crystallized Ginger Scones

A few weeks ago I went to a local restaurant/baking supplies store and got a few things I needed. One of them was this lovely orange oil:

I am a sucker for orange sweets and as soon as I saw these oils in all the incredible flavors, I knew I would have to start my collection with orange. Which also means I will be making lots of orange flavored stuff in the near future…
I also got some crystallized ginger and thought that it would be a great combo. In what? Well, I always wanted to try making scones, so why not orange and crystallized ginger ones. I found the recipe for ginger scones online and made just a tiny bit addition to it with my orange oil. Here goes the recipe:

Orange And Crystallized Ginger Scones
from epicurious

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel (I changed this to 1/2 teaspoon)
11 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream
2/3 cup diced crystallized ginger
1 tsp of orange oil (it is stronger than extract)

Preheat oven to 400°F Lightly butter baking sheet. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon peel in processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Make well in center; add 3/4 cup cream. Using fork, stir until just moist. Mix in ginger. Transfer dough to floured surface and gently knead until smooth, about 8 turns. Divide dough in half; pat each portion into 3/4-inch-thick round. Cut each round into 6 wedges and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons cream. Sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake scones until light brown, about 18 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Store in airtight container at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven before serving.)

I ate mine with lingonberry preserves, right after I gobbled up a few plain ones just out of the oven.

My “I don’t like anything sweet except cheesecake” husband ate nine of these in matter of minutes. Then he ate some more later, so I think that speaks enough about how great these turned out. I can’t wait to make them again, right after I make some huge orange and blueberry muffins! :o)