Thursday, December 15, 2016

Dried Cherry and Candied Ginger Scones @LucyBurdette #Christmasweek






LUCY BURDETTE:  These scones would be absolutely lovely for Christmas breakfast or brunch, or really any holiday affair. They started (as my recipes sometimes do) with the craving to use a couple of ingredients I had on hand: beautiful dried Michigan cherries sent by my wonderful Uncle Don, and candied ginger bits from King Arthur flour. I didn't find a recipe that combined the two of them, but I did find a lovely cherry scone recipe that originated in the Blacksmith Inn in Wisconsin, and ended up on the Food Network

Lucy at the Christmas Parade, Key West
After some tweaks, I present it to you! (In the photos, you might notice that I pulsed the cherries into the mix ahead of the butter, which made the pieces quite small. They tasted fine, but we agreed we might like bigger pieces better. You can adjust as you see fit.)









Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoon sodium-free baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 egg

2/3 cups whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup dried cherries

1/3 cup candied ginger

Egg wash, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon water, beaten

Sugar and sliced almonds, for sprinkling

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In your food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Pulse in the ginger pieces, followed by chunks of butter, and mix until no larger than pea-sized. Now add the cherries and pulse them until they are well distributed. Whisk together the cream, the egg, and the extracts and add this to the dry ingredients. Pulse until combined. 

Turn all of this out onto a floured surface and knead several times. 

Pat into a circle and cut into 8 pieces. Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar and sliced almonds. Place onto a baking sheet covered with parchment. 

Bake at 375 for 15 to 18 minutes until beginning to brown. Serve hot with butter!

Are you still looking for stocking stuffers? DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS, the fifth Key West mystery might fit the bill.

And I've got lots of other ideas on my Pinterest board, Mystery Books as Stocking Stuffers.








14 comments:

  1. I have to try this recipe! Love the idea of cherries and ginger! Maybe even cranberries. Thanks you for sharing!!!

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    1. You're welcome--cranberries would work very well I'm sure. I like cherries a little better--and I had lots of them:)

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  2. I love recipes with dried cherries, and never thought to add candied ginger, so this is a new addition to my recipe collection, thanks! I probably will keep the dried cherries whole in my version...I like the bigger pieces.

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    1. I don't think you could go wrong with bigger pieces. Hope you enjoy the scones, Grace.

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  3. Oh yum! I'm soaking dried cherries in rum right now for the Christmas stollen. : ) They're just so good! This looks delicious. How will I ever have time to make all these goodies?

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    1. that's the trouble! and I still have seen no sign of my new oven--I had to bake these at a neighbor's condo. And you know what that meant, right? Sharing!

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  4. Lucy, these look terrific! I think I'm going to have make some room in my menu... (So sorry to hear about the oven! High on the list of a cook's biggest fears!)

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    1. thanks Leslie...the oven is in town as of today. Now I have to get the guy to put it in:)

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  5. Isn't King Arthur the best?
    These do sound quite tasty. I must admit that scones always catch my attention.
    I usually make them smaller, using a scoop. More tasties, just less per.

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    1. Yes, I love reading their catalog. And I was thinking about how to make them smaller next time...

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  6. Beautiful post, Lucy/Roberta -- I'm putting the coffee on for these babies! May your holiday season be merry and your New Year be blessed.

    xoox

    ~ Cleo

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  7. I love scones! And these sound really good. I will be trying this recipe in the future.

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