Don’t these scones sound just lovely? I mean orange blossom water and natural raw honeycomb – no not the honey in a jar but the honeycomb itself. Not only did the name of the recipe get my attention but the first words describing these scones “inspired by the busy bees of spring”.
Needless to say I never posted this recipe in the Spring but instead I am sharing these delicious scones with you in the Fall. Have you noticed how many bees are around at the cider mill, at a college football game or even on your deck while you enjoy your flowers before they disappear due to a frost?
Fall is an important time for bees as they get ready for the winter months. Worker bees are laboring long hours to collect enough nectar to feed and maintain the colony. In order for the colony to survive they have to make adequate preparations to get the hive through the cold months.
The prominent ingredient in this recipe is the raw honeycomb. According to the Savannah Bee Co. ” between the 10th and 16th days of life, a worker bee’s special wax-producing glands mature and are most active. When bees in this stage of life consume honey, these glands convert the sugar from the honey into wax. Small flakes are expressed through eight tiny slits on the bee’s underside (his belly). The bees must collectively consume about 6-8 lbs. of honey to produce just 1 pound of wax.
Honey bees use the wax to build comb, the structure of the hive. Bees take the newly formed wax flakes from their abdomens, and shape the wax into perfect hexagonal cells. These cells are where the queen lays eggs and where worker bees store pollen and nectar to turn into honey.
Beeswax becomes very soft if the temperature is too high and will melt at 49°F. Luckily, bees are masters at temperature regulation, keeping the hive at a steady 93-96°F all year round. The color can range from white all the way to brownish black, going through shades of yellow, orange, and red and has no significance as to its quality.”
These scones are not dry and crumbly or are they dense. I really would prefer to call them “cakes” but the ingredients and techniques are typical of American scones. The recipe called for them to be cut into 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick circles. I chose to cut them into 1/2-inch thick circles as I decided to treat them more as a dessert scone – I mean they are drizzled with white chocolate! So, instead of 8 scones I had 15 scones.
Orange Blossom Honeycomb Scones Drizzled With White Chocolate
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
- 3/4 cup cold, unsalted butter, first frozen for 15 minutes then grated
- 1/2 cup honeycomb, chopped (raw honeycomb not packed in honey) I refrigerated the honeycomb as it was easier to work with
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs, divided
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. orange blossom water
- 1 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
- 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped or white melting wafers
- honeycomb to garnish
- sugar bees to garnish
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and reserved vanilla bean seeds in a bowl. Add the cold butter and toss to coat. Cover and freeze for 15 minutes; stir in the chopped honeycomb.
Whisk together the milk, 1 egg, vanilla extract and orange blossom water in a small bowl. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Using a spatula fold the ingredients just until moistened. Place the dough onto a heavily floured surface. Knead dough 5 to 10 times for about 1 minute. Pat dough to 3/4-inch to 1-inch thickness. (I patted the dough into 1/2-inch thickness and cut the dough using a 2-1/2-inch round cutter). Re-roll scraps only once and place on prepared pan. Instead of 8, I had 15 scones.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and remaining 1 egg. Use this egg wash to brush on top of the scones. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until melted and smooth. Drizzle over the scones. Garnish with honeycomb, if desired and a sugar bee.
http://cookingwithauntjuju.com/2018/04/04/orange-blossom-honeycomb-scones/
This recipe comes from the Bake From Scratch Magazine.
Vanilla bean seeds add a lot of fresh flavor…
Grated frozen butter…
I use all kinds of honey; orange blossom, lavender (I sometimes make my own), salted, hot (cook 1 cup honey and 1 tbsp. red pepper flakes for 5 minutes) and a clover honey which I use for such recipes as pulled pork where large quantities of honey are required…
Linking to Angie @ Fiesta Friday #243 and Catherine @ Kunstkitchen’s Blog and Becky @ Bubbly Bee
Love your recipe and photos! Your scones sound absolutely delightful. Thank you for sharing on Fiesta Friday!
Thanks – it was a fun recipe to make. Honeycomb is a new ingredient for me and no comparison to regular honey – a little sticky to use but refrigerating it made it easier to work with!
Honeycomb is fabulous, in my opinion. 🐝
Thanks – as much as I love honey I am surprised this is my first time using honeycomb. So much fun!
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The scones look amazing. I’m a big fan of anything with honey, let alone honey-butter combination, which is just irresistible! Love the photos too. 🙂
Thanks – I am too! I really enjoyed working with the honeycomb – a little pricey but worth it 🙂
I have never had honeycomb but now I am definitely going to try! This sounds amazing.
Until this recipe I had not used it either. I do love to use honey and will keep honeycomb in mind for the future. It is a little “sticky” and I found it was easier to work with after it was refrigerated. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have 🙂
Judy, these look scrumptious! I have never made scones but I could make these I think. 😊
Hi Mary – I treated this recipe like a dessert. The ingredients and methods are similar to scones but nowadays cooks/chefs have all kinds of different twists. I had to order the honeycomb but it sure is good 🙂
Someday we are going to keep bees, not sure if I can use that honeycomb but I’ll save this recipe in case. Have a great week!😃👍
You have inspired me to try the honeycomb Judi. Love your recipe and the photos. I learned a lot about bees and wax after reading your post.
I had learned Batik painting when I was young and remember the soft beeswax we used for it.
Thanks Sandhya – I’ve been fascinated with bees and encouraging them to come to my gardens. The natural honeycomb just took my interest a little further. How fun you used it in Batik painting (just looked it up online) – now it’s time for you to use it in recipes 🙂
They look absolutely delicious! Love the flavor combo
Thanks Ralu – me too! These are over the top with ingredients such as two vanillas (seeds and extract), orange blossom water and then of course the honeycomb. Lots of butter doesn’t hurt either 🙂
Butter Def makes everything taste better! 😁
Oh just WOW!! Pinned this one to make once I find some honeycomb! These sound incredible! Thanks for joining the What’s for Dinner party! Hope we see you every week. Have a wonderful day.
Thanks Helen – after 6 months I finally made these. I knew they would be good – you can just tell by the ingredients – a fun post!
Such an interesting recipe…looks great….
Thanks – as I am looking for “interesting” and “different” recipes. I have over 1,000 posts I am searching for new and exciting posts that are current with the versions of chefs/cooks now 🙂
This one does intrigue me. I’ve had raw honey comb spread on toast, in my yogurt and oatmeal but never baked with it, but now must. Nothing better than a warm scone with a hot cup of coffee on a fall afternoon.
Thanks Ron – honey comb works really well in baked goods. It was fun to use something different. Warm scone. biscuit – you name it with a cup of hot coffee is the best!
My mom used to keep a jar of honeycomb and would sometimes give us a spoonful. I remember the honey being very thick and not easy to swallow 😄 These scones, though, would go down easily, especially with coffee or tea. So interesting, Judi. Btw, just a reminder you’ll be cohosting with Debanita@Canvassed Recipes this Friday. Thanks so much! 😘
Thanks Angie – it is very thick but just seemed to blend in with the other ingredients in the scones. A good recipe and I always enjoy learning something new (even at my age) 🙂 I am ready to co-host on Friday – I sent Debanita a note on her last post a few days ago and I have a recipe all ready to post 🙂