Recipes!
Caramelized Pear and Ginger Scones
Friday February 10, 2012Recipe: Caramelized Pear and Ginger Scones
Summary: These scones are light and moist, with just enough pear and ginger flavor to be interesting but not overpowering. Make them for brunch and I guarantee your friends and family will be happy. My kids beg me to make them whenever we have company for brunch. These would be just ridiculously good as the base for strawberry shortcake.
Ingredients
FOR THE PEARS
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 medium or 2 large crisp pears, such as Bosc, cored, peeled, and finely diced
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
FOR THE SCONES
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1⁄2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk, plus additional as needed
- Unsalted butter and jam, for serving
Instructions
- 1. For the pears: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pears, sugar, and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has cooked off and the pears are starting to brown, about 6 minutes.
- 2. Add the ginger and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer the pears to a plate and let them cool to room temperature before adding to the dough.
- 3. For the scones: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter two baking sheets or line them with silicone mats.
- 4. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1⁄2 cup sugar, and salt; pulse several times. Cut the cold butter into pieces and add to the processor. Pulse until the butter is broken down to oatmeal-size pieces (for flaky scones) or to a sandy texture (if you prefer tender, less flaky scones). Transfer to a mixing bowl.
- 5. Add the buttermilk and pears and mix with a wooden spoon, moistening all of the dry ingredients. You might need another 1 to 2 tablespoons buttermilk, but don’t be in a hurry to add it; you want the dough to just barely form a mass.
- 6. Turn the dough out on to a floured board and knead as briefly as possible to make a rough ball.
- 7. Flatten the dough into a rectangle about 41⁄2 x 24 inches. Brush the top with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Cut into 6 even rectangles and then divide each rectangle into 2 triangles. Transfer to the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between scones.
- 8. Bake until quite golden brown, about 22 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve with soft butter and jam.
Number of servings (yield): 12
So funny! I hadn’t even seen this post yet, but I was looking for some inspiration for yesterday’s Boston Food Swappers event and used this as the basis for my mini scones!
I have a blog post pending for next week on my adaptation of this recipe. Much easier than I had anticipated and SO tasty. Two thumbs up!