Slowly Succumbing to the Season – My Gingerbread Scones

  waiting for:

Ok, so I’m not that far along yet….. I’m somewhere between straddling and succumbing.  But, I’m not totally succumbing yet.

Last week I got to still pretend it was almost-Summer.  In November, when life gives you a few days when you can work outside in shirtsleeves and shorts, well you just dive right in there, don’t you?  I do.

This week, I’m going to try to eek my way into a bonafide Autumnal mode.

Each and every year, after I’ve brought in all the plants from outside and had weeks upon weeks of scanning everyone’s premature recipes for cold weather, I gradually give in.  If we have a lot of cold days by now, it’s easier.  But since we haven’t, I’m still stuck between shorts season and coat season.

Inevitably though, as we approach about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, I am forced to begin to think about what I’m going to serve, if I am cooking.  While this recipe isn’t on that menu, I have been studying lots of spice-based baked goods and thinking about how to incorporate the warm spices of Autumn into my kitchen repertoire.

Lately, I’ve been really thinking a lot about Apple Cider, Molasses and Cloves.  Here’s what came out of the oven this morning:

By the way, this is the perfect time to replace your spices with fresh ones.  And, buy yourself a new container of baking powder and baking soda, too!

My Gingerbread Scones

3 cups organic all purpose flour *I just began to exclusively use Bob’s Red Mill Organic Flour and I love it!

1 tblsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

8 tblsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

1 egg

1/4 cup unsulfured molasses, original, not blackstrap

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup apple cider

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

melted butter for brushing the molds

muscavado sugar for sugaring the molds

crystalized ginger, cut into thin strips for tops

thin strips of orange peel for tops

egg wash

Preheat oven to 400F.  Brush 9 small brioche molds with butter and sprinkle all over with muscavado sugar, tipping the mold to cover.  Remove excess to next mold.  Set molds on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, whir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  Add the cubed butter and pulse 8-9 times or until the butter resembles small peas.  Dump the dry mixture into a low wide bowl.  Make a well in the center.

In a large measuring cup (2 cup) whisk together the egg, molasses, buttermilk, cider and yogurt until well blended.  Pour this mixture into the center of the dry ingredients and, working with a dough scraper, gently begin to pull the dry ingredients into the wet.  When the dough begins to come together, knead with your hands until you have a cohesive mass – but do not over knead.  Move the dough to a lightly floured board.  Roll it into a log, about 12″ long.  Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into nine equal pieces.  Place each piece, cut side up into a mold, rolling in your hand to re-establish its roundness, if needed.  Brush with egg wash.  Arrange a few tiny, thin strips of the crystalized ginger over the top.  Twist one piece of the orange zest over.  Bake for 20 minutes or until well browned and crusty looking.  They should feel firm when you press your finger in center.

Serve with a dab of best-quality sweet butter – European if you can.  Drizzle top very sparingly with maple syrup or honey if you must.  Or, if you are ambitious, you can make a hard sauce and spoon one scant tsp on top.  That way, you can actually serve these as a dessert for luncheon or even after dinner.  But, they are best right out of the oven and will stand up nicely to a very strong cup of black tea or an espresso!

Enjoy!

 the unmistakable chemical reaction of molasses and baking soda

 nice, tender crumb

 we are wet here today 🙁