When it comes to baking, she is considered something of an expert in her part and recommends a scone recipe to end a good meal.
“Pumpkin scones are one of my favorite comfort foods, the color is exquisite, and the texture and taste is fabulous,” she said. “This scone mixture is a bit firmer than the traditional scone mixture.”
One tip though, especially to those across the pond from her, it’s important to watch those ingredients.
“There are many American recipes out there that call for canned pumpkin,” she sad. “If you are going to use canned pumpkin, don't waste your time, make a plain scone. Canned pumpkin is like water! You need to use roasted pumpkin. Whenever I roast pumpkin, I use the whole pumpkin and then use it for soup and scones the next day.”
Pumpkin Scones with Sliced Honey Butter
Ingredients
Scone Dough:
275 grams of plain flour
75 grams dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
110 grams cold butter, cut into pieces
30g chopped walnuts
1/3 - 1/2 cup (80 - 120 ml) buttermilk
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Egg Wash:
1 large organic egg
1 tablespoon cream
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
Spiced honey butter
1/2 cup butter softened to room temperature
1/4 cup honey1 teaspoon (I use thyme honey)
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method
For the scones
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with your fingers until it looks like coarse bread crumbs. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped walnuts. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Fold in but do not over mix.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about six inches round and about 11/2 inches thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into wedges, this makes it easier to cut the scones when they are cooked. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.
Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For the spiced honey butter
Mix all the ingredients together and serve over the warm scones.
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