A lovely grouping of pears in the trencher ! – This Fall Favorite Needs Subtle Highlights!
Yes, She Bakes. She Bakes, Rain or Shine……..
Ok, I’m not psychic. I might be mildly intuitive. But, I do have a vivid imagination – one that brings into focus, often at the oddest times of day and night – lots of iterations of baked goods. Also, incidentally, I am great at self-deception!!! It’s one of my favorite and most-needed coping mechanisms.
Like today, I’m imagining myself at the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market, walking around in the shining sun, in shorts and a t shirt and flip flops – and it is 75F. I’ve consulted the airlines and non-stop fares to LAX are $1068. Nope, too late! And so, sadly, I must move onto other, more practical realms, like the kitchen!
Can’t help but take a moment, though, to resurrect these favorite photos – taken at the Santa Barbara and Montecito Farmer’s Markets in March!
new theory – color therapy: these vibrant and vivid colors help to cheer me on this dreary day
Christin, not knowing Sunflowers don’t really have a fragrance to cozy up to
What’s more wonderful than the beautiful pears of Fall? I have been imagining a new rendition of the pear scone, among other pear recipe concoctions – as I mentioned the other day. Pears are a wonderful fruit – with a delicate and unique flavor all their own. You might even call their flavor – elusive……
While they are wonderful to eat alone, when perfectly ripe and juicy, they can be positively heady. It can, however, be difficult to bring their flavor forward when they are included in a dish, savory or otherwise, or a pastry item. How best to do this? I’ve been thinking about it for days. What could make it taste more peary-y? How do I enhance the pear flavor – or, at the very least, make the scones look more festive and cheery on a day like to day? You can complement them with other flavors as I will try today or try to get more Pear flavor around the Pear itself.
When undertaking a task such as this – when working with the flavor as delicate and floral as a pear, you really want subtle highlights don’t you? It’s what you strive for at the hands of your best, maybe secret, stylist at the Salon – you want the skillful, light touch of the most complimentary shading, that works with your very best intrinsic characteristics, and then, the final effect will be that of perfect enhancement! Kind of a little like magic – you know, you had something done and it’s noticeable, but mysterious and definitely not overdone (also like great plastic surgery LOL). This is what it’s like trying to work with the pear – at least for me. You really don’t want to mask or overpower the pear flavor with other ingredients, or have it recede into the background. You want it to just say Pear.
Hmmmm….. Today, I’m going to try some of the more obvious options: ginger, lemon, lemon verbena and almond. You will note from the recipe at the end of this post, that another flavor profile could include cardamom and star anise – this will be my next iteration.
Ok, so today, in spite of, or maybe because of the weather I am in the kitchen working hard at self-deception – trying hard to ignore what is going on outside my windows.
Back to the pears….
PEAR-BUTTERMILK SCONES WITH GINGER ….. adapted from Mortar and Parsley
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup coarsely ground corn meal
3 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
8 leaves lemon verbena, minced(if available) 1/2 cup crystalized ginger chopped
6 tblsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
zest of 3/4 large lemon
1 bosc pear, ripe but firm, peeled and sliced
egg wash
muscavado sugar
Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of food processor, whir together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, lemon verbena and lemon zest. Add the ginger and pulse just to mix in. Add cubed butter and pulse about 8 times or until the mixture has small but visible pieces of butter left. Turn the mixture out into a low wide bowl. In a measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk, egg and almond extract. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into center and mix in gently with a dough scraper. When the mixture begins to come together (it may be very wet) flour your hands and take out and knead slightly into a light but cohesive mass. Press out into a disk on the baking sheet. Arrange the pear slices around the dough as shown. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with muscavado sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, crunchy but firm in the center. Enjoy with a dollop of ginger scented cream, if desired.
Comments on this recipe: I like the added crunch the corn meal adds to these scones but somehow I think it may have interfered with bringing the pear flavor forward. I think another option, maybe the better one, instead of the cornmeal, would be almond meal(ground almonds or Almond Flour). I’m going to try this next time. And, I will add diced pieces of pear into the batter as well as using the slices to decorate the top – using a total of 2 pears.
Well, while not the “bigger” pear flavor here that I hoped for…… but they look and taste good! Definitely worth trying. Perhaps next time I am going to try a little pear brandy in them as well.
Wishing you a happy day and a quickly scurrying storm system – off the coast and into the center of the ocean – somewhere else…
Here is another goodie for using your pears – from Australian Gourmet Traveller :
looking yummy! (photo courtesy Gourmet Traveller)