Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Step 2

Chop up those dried cherries with a sharp knife or kitchen shears.

Step 3

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, sea salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

Step 4

Cut your cold butter into small pieces. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have crumbs about the size of a pea.

Step 5

Now mix the diced cherries and grated orange zest into the flour & butter mixture until it's all evenly distributed.

Step 6

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter, the vanilla, and the heavy cream.

Step 7

Depending on how thin your starter is, you may need to add more heavy cream (or milk) than the recipe calls for. The mixture should have the consistency of pancake batter.

Step 8

Now with a fork stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened.

Step 9

This is supposed to be a dry dough. It should almost be like bread dough.

Step 10

Press the dough into a ball.

Step 11

Then turn it out onto a VERY lightly floured surface.

Step 12

Flatten the dough into a disc about 8 inches across.

Step 13

Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the disc like a pie into 8 pieces.

Step 14

Put the pie piece shaped scones onto a baking stone or a greased baking sheet. Or you could line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 15

If your kitchen is on the warm side you may need to pop those guys in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Step 16

In a really small bowl or tea cup, mix the sugar and cinnamon well. Add the heavy cream and mix it up with a pastry brush until it's combined.

Step 17

Brush the top of the scones with the topping. I like to go over them once before I bake them, and then use the rest of the topping on them after I take them out of the oven.

Step 18

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.