I love scones and am always developing new recipes for them. Today, I am sharing my recipe for Date and Orange Buttermilk Scones. These are a lovely treat served warm from the oven with a favorite jam and/or fruit curd with, of course, some clotted cream or English double cream. That said, they are also tasty with just a good slather of fine butter.

Gooseberries are not altogether common today but some gardeners grow a few gooseberry bushes for their own use. Otherwise, the berries are more likely to be found at local farmers’ markets than in large supermarkets. 

Gooseberry bushes have different varieties that produce berries that range in color from green to almost black. Generally speaking, the darker the color, the sweeter the flavor with the green berries being unripe and very tart. The ones I used in the pie in the photos that accompany this post were mostly a rosy pink color with a few green ones added in for tartness.