Dried Fig and Pine Nut Scones with Rosemary and Orange

These scones remind me of one of my favorite Italian cookies, cucidatti, a delicious fig filled cookie wrapped in a tender pasta frolla dough. This scone contains some of the same ingedients that are in the cucidatti filling; figs, pine nuts and orange. I’ve added the rosemary for a bit of an earthy taste, but feel free to omit it and replace it with a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Tina Zaccardi
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

Scones:

  • ¼ Cup of Pine Nuts
  • 180 grams of All Purpose Flour 1½ Cups
  • 60 grams of Cake Flour ½ Cup
  • 50 grams of Granulated Sugar ¼ Cup
  • 2 ¼ Teaspoons of Baking Powder
  • ¼ Teaspoon of Kosher Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons of Orange Zest
  • ¼ Teaspoon of Finely Chopped Dried Rosemary or 1/2 Teaspoon of Fresh
  • 6 Tablespoons of Cold Unsalted Butter
  • 1/3 Cup of 1/4” Diced Dried Figs
  • 180-240 ml of Heavy Cream ¾-1 Cup

Glaze:

  • 120 grams of Powdered Sugar
  • 2-3 Tablespoons of Orange Juice

Instructions
 

Scones:

  • Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
  • Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, stirring once.
  • They are done when they are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.
  • Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
  • PLace the sugar, orange zest and rosemary in a bowl and rub the mixture together with your finger tips.
  • Add the flours, baking powder and salt and whisk together.
  • Cut the butter into ½” cubes and add it to the flour mixture.
  • Toss the mixture to coat the butter cubes in flour.
  • Squeeze the pieces of butter into the flour until you have a mixture that looks like coarse cornmeal with some pieces the size of large peas.
  • Place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
  • Add the figs and pine nuts and stir gently to incorporate.
  • Add ¾ cup of heavy cream and using a spatula stir the mixture gently until the mixture holds together.  If the mixture seems dry add additional heavy cream 1 Tablespoon at a time.
  • Divide the dough in half and shape each into a ball.  Pat each half into a 5” circle, cut each into 6 wedges and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Brush the tops with heavy cream.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Glaze:

  • Whisk together the powdered sugar and enough of the orange juice to make a consistency that can be drizzled over the scones.
  • Scones are best consumed on the day they are baked. You can make the scones up to the point of baking and store them in the freezer, very well wrapped. to bake at a later time.