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    Home / Breakfast & Brunch
    5 from 3 reviews

    Cherry Marzipan Scones

    By Alanna Taylor-Tobin on Aug 17, 2012 (updated Feb 3, 2020) / 19 Comments Jump to Recipe

    close up of cherry scones

    I inherited a rather large quantity of almond paste last week and, inspired by some late-season cherries, baked some of it into a batch of these dainty scones.

    overhead shot of cherry scones

    All scones are classy because they'reBritish,and these tidy squares feel even more so, with a pretty finish of sliced almonds and a flavor reminiscent of petit four cakes.They make me want to sip darjeeling in the drawing room with Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.

    pitted cherries

    (Admittedly, it doesn't take a batch of scones to make me want that.)

    butter in a blender

    In any case, these are more the sort of treat to be found on an afternoon tea platter of sweets rather than at the breakfast table (though certainly no one would object if they wound up there somehow). They inhabit the opposite end of the scone spectrum as blueberry buckwheat and Irish soda scones, which are a bit more hearty (though still classy, bien sûr).

    sheet of pastry with cherries on it

    These cake-like pillows, redolent with almond flavor, retain a bit of dense chewiness from the almond paste. Almond's perfume is perfectly pitched with the sweet cherries that get chopped and sandwiched between two layers of dough. When baked, they soften a bit, but retain their shape and jammy flavor, glistening like rubies as they peer out from the center of each scone. Sliced almonds on top toast in the heat of the oven, and, along with coarse sugar, add a bit of crunch.When served warm and topped with a spot of extra yogurt, they remind me of strawberry shortcake.

    pastry with cherry filling

    These scones are gently sweetened, and the dough is moistened with Greek yogurt. I used low-fat, and the scones stayed plenty rich from the almond paste. The dough comes together quickly in the food processor, and the almond paste makes the dough supple beneath one's fingers, and a pleasure to work with.

    pastry brush on scones

    To be clear, marzipan is almond paste's sweeter relative, and is mostly used for modeling into tiny replicas of fruit or wrapping cakes a là fondant. But the term "paste" is rarely an appealing way to title a recipe, so please forgive this inconsistency.

    row of cherry scones

    In place of cherries, you could use any sturdy stone fruit, such as chopped peaches or apricots. Raspberries or blackberries would be tasty, too.

    top down shot of cherry scones

    ~ Thanks to my talented sister-in-law Sheila Metcalf-Tobin, whose exquisite line drawings are featured on the placemats above and down below ~

    More cherry recipes:

    • Cherry-Apricot Fold-over Pie
    • Cherry Frangipane Tart
    • Apricot Cherry Clafoutis
    • Tart Cherry Eton Mess

    More Scone Recipes:

    • Fig and Ginger Scones
    • Poppy Seed and Lemon Curd Mega Scone
    • Banana Brown Sugar Pecan Scones
    • Maple Blueberry Buckwheat Scones

    *Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram,  Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this cherry marzipan scone recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet  and  #bojongourmet.*

    stack of cherry scones
    5 from 3 reviews

    Cherry Marzipan Scones

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    These beautiful cherry scones are the perfect pairing for a brewed tea.
    Alanna Taylor-Tobin
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Freezer time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total: 1 hour hour
    Servings: 12 dainty scones.

    Ingredients

    For the scones:

    • 1/2 cup fresh, moist almond paste, crumbled (4 3/4 ounces)
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, in 1/2" cubes
    • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons greek yogurt (I used low-fat), plus extra for serving
    • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
    • 1 1/2 cups fresh sweet cherries, stemmed, pitted and quartered (to equal 1 cup)

    For the top:

    • 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
    • a small handful of sliced almonds (preferably unblanched)
    • 1 tablespoon coarse sugar
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • In the body of a food processor, combine the almond paste, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine and break up the almond paste. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles gravel, with a few pea-sized butter chunks throughout. Dollop the yogurt over the top, sprinkle with the almond extract, and pulse until the mixture begins to form large clumps and looks somewhat homogeneous.
    • Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, dust the top lightly with flour, and roll into a 12 by 8" rectangle, turning and flipping the dough, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking.
    • Lay the prepared cherries over half the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the cherries, and press down gently but firmly (this will help the cherries stay in place when you slice and move the scones).Freeze the mega-scone until fairly firm, but not frozen, 20 minutes.
    • Position a rack in the upper center of the oven and preheat to 425ºLine a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper, and stack it on top of a second heavy baking sheet.
    • Use a sharp chef's knife to trim away the outer 1/4" from each side of the scone, then cut into 12 squares. Brush the tops with cream, sprinkle with the almonds, pressing them lightly into the scones, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
    • Carefully transfer the scones to the parchmented sheet pan, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake the scones until they are golden brown on top, 18-20 minutes.
    • Let the scones cool to warm. They are best served shortly after baking (with more greek yogurt!) but will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature. Reheat in an oven or toaster oven for best results.

    Notes

    I used low-fat greek yogurt here, but any fat content will likely work just fine. Have some extra yogurt on hand for eating with the scones.
    Tea is the ideal accompaniment, but I won't tell if you have a Sweet Cherry Manhattan instead.
    These scones tend to darken excessively on their bottoms; to avoid this, double-pan them by stacking two rimmed baking sheets, and bake the scones on an upper rack in the oven.
    Since ovens often vary in temperature, I highly recommend using an oven thermometer, especially for high-temperature recipes like this one.
    Nutritional values are based on one of twelve scones.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 206kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 5gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 106mgPotassium: 203mgFiber: 2gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 165IUVitamin C: 1.2mgCalcium: 89mgIron: 1.3mg
    Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

    Cherry Marzipan Scones

    I used low-fat greek yogurt here, but any fat content will likely work just fine. Have some extra yogurt on hand for eating with the scones. Tea is the ideal accompaniment, but I won't tell if you have a Sweet Cherry Manhattan instead. These scones tend to darken excessively on their bottoms; to avoid this, double-pan them by stacking two rimmed baking sheets, and bake the scones on an upper rack in the oven. Since ovens often vary in temperature, I highly recommend using an oven thermometer, especially for high-temperature recipes like this one.

    Makes 12 dainty scones

    For the scones:
    1/2 cup (4 3/4 ounces) fresh, moist almond paste, crumbled
    2 tablespoons sugar
    2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, in 1/2" cubes
    3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons greek yogurt (I used low-fat), plus extra for serving
    1/2 teaspoon almond extract
    1 1/2 cups fresh sweet cherries, stemmed, pitted and quartered (to equal 1 cup)

    For the top:
    1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
    a small handful of sliced almonds (preferably unblanched)
    1 tablespoon coarse sugar

    In the body of a food processor, combine the almond paste, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine and break up the almond paste. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles gravel, with a few pea-sized butter chunks throughout. Dollop the yogurt over the top, sprinkle with the almond extract, and pulse until the mixture begins to form large clumps and looks somewhat homogeneous.

    Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, dust the top lightly with flour, and roll into a 12 by 8" rectangle, turning and flipping the dough, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking.

    Lay the prepared cherries over half the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the cherries, and press down gently but firmly (this will help the cherries stay in place when you slice and move the scones).Freeze the mega-scone until fairly firm, but not frozen, 20 minutes.

    Position a rack in the upper center of the oven and preheat to 425ºF. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper, and stack it on top of a second heavy baking sheet.

    Use a sharp chef's knife to trim away the outer 1/4" from each side of the scone, then cut into 12 squares. Brush the tops with cream, sprinkle with the almonds, pressing them lightly into the scones, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

    Carefully transfer the scones to the parchmented sheet pan, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake the scones until they are golden brown on top, 18-20 minutes.

    Let the scones cool to warm. They are best served shortly after baking (with more greek yogurt!) but will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature. Reheat in an oven or toaster oven for best results.

    stack of scones

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. rcakewalk says

      August 21, 2012 at 9:23 pm

      These look lovely, I think I love nothing more than almond anything - and I also love the square shape. Whilst I'm in the loving mode, I also love the placemats, very nicely done all the way around! Your photos keep getting better and better...

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        August 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm

        Thanks for the love, Rebecca! Your sweet words always make my day. : )

        Reply
    2. Becky says

      June 12, 2013 at 7:52 pm

      I am going to make these, just because they look and sound perfect.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        June 12, 2013 at 10:46 pm

        Aw, thanks! Please let me know how you like them. :)

        Reply
    3. mgncrtr says

      August 25, 2013 at 8:02 pm

      Wow! I am going to make these even though it is ten trillion degrees out. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        August 25, 2013 at 9:54 pm

        Aw! That's the best compliment - thanks!

        Reply
    4. Anonymous says

      December 31, 2013 at 6:13 pm

      These look like at least one of the answers to the gallon+ of pie cherries that were gifted to me, and are hogging space in my freezer. Sorry if I missed it, can you please clarify if you used sweet cherries or pie/sour cherries? Just pondering if an adjustment may be needed in the sugar amount. Thanks much. Can't wait to dig into the rest of your blog.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        January 01, 2014 at 1:17 am

        Lucky you! I'm so envious - I can never find tart cherries here in California. The ones used here are sweet - I'll clarify that up top. I bet sour cherries will be brilliant if you toss them in a bit of sugar first. Let me know how you like 'em!

        Reply
    5. Dahlia says

      October 18, 2014 at 6:57 pm

      These look delicious! I'd like to make some soon. Alanna, could you please tell if your almond paste contains only almonds, or there are some sugar too?

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        October 19, 2014 at 6:49 am

        Hi Dahlia! Yes, there is sugar in my almond paste. Please let me know how they turn out!

        Reply
      • Dahlia says

        October 25, 2014 at 10:04 am

        Alanna, thank you very much for the recipe! The scones were awesome - I baked them yesterday late in the evening, now it's dinner time and there are none left)))
        The only change I made to the recipe - I took wild cowberries instead of cherries, they are sour and I liked the contrast of tastes they've given. Here's the link to my post, if you'd like to see the result http://orange-dahlia.livejournal.com/140180.html

        It's your third recipe I'm cooking and they all were a success. Thank you for your work, Alanna!

        Reply
      • Alanna says

        October 25, 2014 at 10:51 pm

        Thank you so much for the link! Your scones are stunning - this made my day. Someday I hope to know what cowberries taste like. :) Which other ones did you make?

        Reply
      • Dahlia says

        November 07, 2014 at 11:16 am

        Is's so unbelievably pleasant to read - I admire you as a photographer since I found your blog)))))))
        I've cooked millet stuffed pupkin (with some changes) and millet-corn chowder, and a couple of days ago I made your persimmon-tangerine smoothie. Thank you for your work, Alanna!

        Reply
      • Alanna says

        November 09, 2014 at 5:39 pm

        Ooh, millet corn chowder sounds delicious and I sure love that squash and those smoothies. Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm really glad you're enjoying this space. :)

        Reply
    6. Lauren says

      May 19, 2017 at 10:15 am

      Was wondering if I should defrost frozen cherries or just place them on the dough while still frozen? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        May 19, 2017 at 4:06 pm

        Hi Lauren, I *think* frozen should work best, but I'm not entirely sure. Let me know what you end up trying!

        Reply
    7. janice says

      August 10, 2021 at 2:19 pm

      Made these for a group over the weekend with some end-of-season cherries and they were a huge hit! Even the Brit in the group gave high praise. The almond paste keeps them from drying out so you don't need to serve with butter or jam like with other scones.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        August 11, 2021 at 12:00 pm

        Aw I'm so glad they were a hit! Thanks so much for the rating and note!

        Reply
    8. Inna says

      February 17, 2022 at 11:41 am

      They are awesome! I’ve bakes them twice this week: everybody loves them. Thanks a lot!

      Reply

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    I'm Alanna, a recovering pastry chef-turned food photographer, stylist, videographer, and award-winning cookbook author. The Bojon Gourmet is a celebration of the sweet, savory, and occasionally boozy recipes that I create in my San Francisco kitchen. About →

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