Bergamot and Cranberry Scones

I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Originally, it's a lemon and cranberry recipe. What initially caught my eye was Deb's mention of how disappointing it is that fresh cranberries get so little use (outside of sauce for the holiday table) in favour of the little dried bits. I could not agree more with her, and I am always trying to find ways to incorporate real cranberries into my baked goods. These scones were perfect not only for that, but for the substitution of bergamot in lieu of meyer lemon.

I don’t think I froze enough rounds (I decided to bake 3 per person, which was too many - 3 would've been plenty for the two of us), but these are really, really wonderful. Slightly sweet and delightfully tart when you bite into one of the cranberries. They’re soft inside, slightly crispy on the outside and just wonderful little pillows of happiness. I’m putting curd on them when I want a sweeter bite and eating them solo when I want a sweet-tart bite. And happily, I have two more breakfast's worth of these little guys in the freezer for later. Enjoy!

(the next part is quoted directly from the link above, my changes are in italics)

"1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (from about 2 lemons; preferably Meyer) {1 scant tablespoon dried, crushed bergamot peel}
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons additional if using fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse, or 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries, if you insist
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

Accompaniment: creme fraiche or whipped cream {bergamot curd}

Preheat oven to 400°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

With a vegetable peeler remove the zest from lemons and chop fine, reserving lemons for another use.

In a food processor pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal and transfer to a large bowl.

In a small bowl toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar and stir into flour mixture. If using dried fruit, add to flour mixture.

In another small bowl lightly beat egg and yolk and stir in cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

On a well-floured surface with floured hands pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter) and with a 2-inch round cutter or rim of a glass dipped in flour cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling scraps as necessary. Arrange rounds about 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake in middle of oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. {if you are as bad as I am at visually gauging things as I am, get your ruler out before hand, so you don't have to yell across the house to someone who's playing video games to bring you the ruler QUICK!! Oh, and use a real biscuit cutter that's open on top, because it can be a nightmare to get them out of your biscuit-converts-to-donuts cutter if you didn't flour it well enough}

[I decided to rebel and pat them into a square and cut them into smaller ones. The square shapes didn't keep very well, so I don't recommend this! Learn from me, people.]

Serve scones warm with creme fraiche or whipped cream. Scones keep, individually wrapped in plastic wrap and foil, chilled, 1 day or frozen 1 week."