Monday, January 30, 2012

Pumpkin Scones

One score and five years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful, dark-eyed baby girl who grew up to be a fabulous cook. She is pictured in the sidebar on her wedding day, and also in front of a waterfall in Thailand with her husband. Deb and her family live quite far away from us, so I don't get to see them very often, but when I do, I always come home with new recipes. This is one of them.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (I imagine you could use all-purpose if you wanted to)
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ginger

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup pumpkin
3 Tbsp. cream
1 egg

Directions:

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. I don't have a picture of this because I like to be just a little mysterious. And I was so excited for scones I forgot to take one.

Cut the butter into the dry stuff. If you have one of those wire pastry blenders, do yourself a favor and go to a restaurant supply store and get a good one that's all stainless steel, where the blades and the curved part are all one piece. I bought this one 15 years ago for $8, and I thank God for it every time I take it out of the drawer. Amen.


Then get out your pumpkin, your free-range egg, and your fresh-from-the-cow cream. If you don't have free-range eggs and fresh-from-the-cow cream, I encourage you to move closer to my friend Kelly, who keeps me supplied with both. Everybody should have a friend like Kelly.


Combine the pumpkin, egg, and cream in a small bowl,


and dump that mixture into the dry ingredients.


Stir just until it holds together. I had to add a few extra dribbles of cream. Then plop it on a floured counter and fold it over a few times, like you would for biscuits. Pat it into one big circle, about 1/2-inch thick.


Cut it into 12 wedges. I used a big knife, but you might try a pizza cutter too.


Transfer your wedges to a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet. Deb also shared with me the delights of parchment paper, which are many, especially when the baking is over and you crumple it up and throw it away, and have a clean cookie sheet. Yes, I'm a fan of the parchment.


Here are my wedges, all laid out pretty-like, ready to be baked at 425° for 14-18 minutes. Mine took just 14.


While they're baking, stir together a big spoonful of powdered sugar with a little cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Add enough fresh-from-the-cow cream to make a glaze that's not too thin.


Here's what your scones will look like when they're done—just beginning to brown a little. I let them sit for 10 or 15 minutes so they're not too hot when I glaze them.


Pour the glaze in a baggie and snip a very tiny bit of one corner off,


and drizzle them. I wish you could smell my kitchen right now.


Now go make a pot of coffee. You might want to keep the fresh cream handy for that too.


Be thankful ~

1 comment:

Michelle Sargent said...

I just had to Pin you on this!