High Tea Cupcakes - Orange Cranberry Scones Baked in Teacups

These high tea cupcakes are really scones, but since I literally baked them in a cup, I decided it was legit to call them cupcakes. It's my blog, so I can do what I want.

I love that scones aren't quite as sweet as most cakes. I used to think that they were less caloric than other baked goods, but I was deceived. They are loaded with butter and cream and worth every single calorie you'll get from them!

These high tea cupcakes are made with dried cranberries and flavored with a hint of orange, but you could just as easily make them with chocolate chips, raisins, or currants. For extra pizazz, they can be topped with some jam and clotted cream.

If you don't have oven-safe teacups, you can bake the same recipe as scones (by putting balls of dough directly onto an oiled cookie sheet) or as traditional cupcakes (in cupcake tins) as shown above.

Either way, they are sure to disappear!

High Tea Cupcake Recipe


I got the recipe for these high tea cupcakes from Barefoot Contessa. I modified her scone recipe to bake in teacups. I also added some orange extract to kick up the orange flavor a bit and decreased the amount of salt (I'm not a big salt fan). Below is my modified version of her recipe.

The number of cupcakes you get depends on the size of your teacups. I only had six tea cups so I made 6 teacups and 16 normal cupcakes.

• 4 C all-purpose flour
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 T baking powder
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1 T grated orange zest
• 3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
• 4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 C cold heavy cream
• 1/4 t orange extract
• 1 C dried cranberries

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange zest.
2. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas.
   
3. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, heavy cream, and orange extract.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the wet mixture into the flour and butter mixture.
   
5. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy!
   
6. Mix the cranberries into the batter.
7. Using your hands (it's more fun this way), make balls of dough that will fill your teacups about 3/4 full. (Make sure the teacups are oven safe!)
   
8. Drop the balls of dough in the cups.
9. Place cups on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes or until the tops are slightly browned.
   

Special Thanks


Special thanks to Lori and Rob for loaning me the teacups (don't tell ... they are actually espresso cups, but close enough).

High Tea Treats

I'm excited to enter these cupcakes in Meeta's Monthly Mingle. The theme this month is High Tea Treats.