Cara Cara Orange Scones

This Cara Cara Orange Scone recipe is a celebration of winter citrus fruit. A celebration of one of my favorite winter citrus fruits, to be more precise. Can you imagine winter without citrus? I can't. Just the smell of an orange being peeled immediately transports me to my childhood Christmases.

My love of winter citrus fruit is firmly planted in my psyche undoubtedly because Santa always left oranges in our stockings, (thanks, Santa!). I think this used to be a bigger tradition than it is now, although I did have a chat with a super-friendly produce lady at Wegmans one day who said she also used to get oranges in her stocking. So maybe it wasn't just my family? Anyway, I walked away from that conversation with a big box of satsuma oranges, still with their pretty green leaves attached. I'm a sucker for those seasonal beauties! And for Cara Caras, which are the star of this Cara Cara Orange Scone recipe.

When you live in the Northeast like we do, there's really no such thing as fresh fruit in the winter months. Sure, you can find fruit at the store, but do you really want to eat those crunchy strawberries? No. You don't. Lucky for all of us, there is always a nice selection of various citrus fruits and Cara Caras are one of my favorites. With the prettiest, peachy-hued flesh, they are so sweet with just enough tartness and always so juicy. 

My friend Sam from the blog Buttermilk by Sam has a mutual love for Cara Caras and I just have to share her beautiful recipe for Cara Cara Orange Meringue Tart - it is stunning. 

This post and recipe were originally published February 21, 2019. They have been updated on January 21, 2021 with new photos, recipe card, and a bit more text.

My Cara Cara Orange Scone Recipe

I really wanted to showcase the loveliness of Cara Cara Oranges in a baking recipe and since I've been on a bit of a scone bender lately, these Cara Cara Orange Scones were happily born.

These scones use a basic cream scone recipe which I modified just slightly by adding zest and juice to amp up the orange flavor. A cream scone is unique in that it does not use butter (I know; who am I??) or eggs. It is a lovely, simple, blank canvas.

I added some cream cheese to my basic scone glaze along with some orange zest and juice to really push them over the top. They are so good. If you loved/love Orange Julius or dreamsicles (creamsicles?) you will love these.

The vanilla is also a key player here in the scone and the glaze. It pairs so well with the orange flavor. If you can, use vanilla bean paste for those little flecks that you know I adore! Oh, and I feel I must mention - if you wanted to add some cranberries that would be really good. Or some chopped fresh rosemary. Or both. 

This Cara Cara Orange Scone recipe is perfect for chasing those winter blues away. Add it to your weekend or snowy day baking list and let me know if you make them!

Happy scone baking! xo - Anita

Check out these other scone recipes!

Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones

Spiced Pumpkin Scones

The Easiest Scone Recipe

Triple Berry Crème Fraîche Scones

Cara Cara Orange Scones

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★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 12 scones 1x

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Description

This Cara Cara Orange Scone Recipe is a celebration of winter citrus fruit with zest and juice in the dough and in the glaze!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling tops of scones before baking
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream or whipping cream (I've used half and half in a pinch), plus more for brushing on scones before baking
• 4 tablespoons or ¼ cup fresh cara cara orange juice with as many pulpy bits as you can squelch out
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• zest from one (clean) cara cara orange (save a little for the glaze)

glaze:

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh cara cara orange juice
• 1 teaspoon cara cara orange zest
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 1-2 tablespoons milk (just enough to make a smooth, pourable glaze)

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Instructions

To make the scones:

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
2. In a spouted large measuring cup or small bowl, combine cream, orange juice and pulp, vanilla, and zest and stir to combine.
3. Pour the cream mixture slowly over dry ingredients while gently mixing with a fork. You want a wet, craggy dough with no dry patches or flour still at the bottom of the bowl. You don't, however, want something as wet as muffin batter. Once you pour all of the cream in, use your hands to gently squish the dough into a ball. If it holds together you're good to go. If not, add just a bit more cream, a tablespoon at a time until you have a cohesive dough.
4. Divide dough into two equal portions and on a floured surface, very gently shape into about a 5 inch circle. Pat down the top to make it fairly flat - not domed.
5. Transfer both dough discs to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can refrigerate for an hour or even overnight. If you're doing overnight make sure to cover them with plastic wrap or stash in a ziploc bag so they don't dry out.
6. 30 minutes before you're ready to bake the scones, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
7. After dough has chilled, remove from fridge or freezer, and with a very sharp knife, slice your dough discs into 6 equal wedges. 
8. Place on baking tray about 1-2 inches apart.
9. Brush tops with a generous amount of cream and sprinkle with sugar.
10. Place in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until just beginning to brown around edges and no wet dough remains in center of scone. If tops begin to brown too much, cover loosely with foil during last 10 minutes.

To make the glaze:

1. Place cream cheese, powdered sugar, orange juice, zest, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Add just enough milk to thin mixture to a slow, pourable glaze. About the consistency of cool honey. You want it to glaze the scones, not just slither off the sides and all over your cookie sheet.
2. When scones are done baking, remove from oven and let cool on tray for about 10-15 minutes before glazing. If you can't restrain yourself (like us), just enjoy them hot from the oven with some glaze on the side for dipping and drizzling. They are also crazy good split open and smeared with salted butter.

Notes

I wrote this recipe for Cara Cara oranges, but feel free to use any type of orange, or any citrus fruit for that matter. 

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: scones, breakfast
• Method: baking

Keywords: cara cara orange scones, orange scones, scone recipe