Irish Soda Bread Scones with Whipped Orange Honey Marmalade Butter

So with my daughter Abby headed to Ireland on her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints, I'm celebrating St Patty's Day in a new fashion!

My hubby and kids have a good amount of Irish heritage in them and I have a decent amount to claim my Irish fame! I'm holding a family party tomorrow and I wanted to try some new recipes to make it special. This was an absolute winner for me! I had to do a bit of shopping around to find currants (which are called Zante currants, or Corinth raisins which are from small, sweet seedless Black Corinth grapes! Who knew! ha!)

These are soaked in orange zest, freshly squeezed orange juice and then drained so the currants soak up that amazing orange flavor! I used Cara Cara my favorite oranges of all time which are in season right now! Caraway seeds and raisins are a traditional addition to Irish Soda bread and the caraway seeds add a bit of a licorice flavor to the scones. The buttermilk makes them soft and freezing the butter and grated it into the mixture is a new method for me but its amazing! Chilling the scones before baking give them that added oomph from chilling the butter again to make sure it doesn't lose its layering while baking. The whipped orange honey marmalade adds the finishing touch! My hubby couldn't get enough of these when they were warm and fresh out of the oven!

Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread Scones

3/4 cup Zante currants (or any variety of raisins if you can't find the currants)

1 orange (Cara Cara if in season!) zested and juiced plus more freshly squeezed orange juice or bottled orange juice to make 1 cup liquid

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted frozen butter

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. In a small bowl add the currents to orange juice and orange zest for 30- 60 min to soak up orange flavor then strain through a strainer and set aside

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and caraway seeds in a large bowl.

4. Grate the butter into the flour mixture and using your hands incorporate butter

5. Add drained currants

6. Add buttermilk and egg to mixture and stir gently

7. Dump onto floured counter and knead a little more. The dough will be sticky but incorporate some of the flour on the counter into the dough.

8. Shape the dough into a rectangle and fold it over and over again until it has 3-4 layers. Use a floured biscuit cutter and press. When needed, fold up the dough again and get as many rounds as you can (around 9)

9. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and chill 20 min

10. Bake between 15-20 min (depending on your oven) until golden brown on top.

Whipped Honey Orange Marmalade Butter

1/2 cup Irish Butter

2 Tbsp orange marmalade

2-3 tsp orange honey sticks or soft honey

Whip all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Serve with warm scones!