You know how adding buttermilk in any baked good makes it super tender? This recipe does it in spades, as they say, to make the softest, most tender scone I may have ever tasted. And then you add in the gingerbread flavors. Delicious is all I can say.
Understand . . . this is not gingerbread. It’s nothing whatsoever like cake gingerbread. It’s the gingerbread (spice) flavors that give it the delish flavor but in a soft, tender flaky scone.
My favorite scone that I’ve been making for decades, Buttermilk Scones, is similar, but the proportions in the ingredients are different than these. How, exactly, the chemistry works in baking continues to baffle me. Sometimes I go to Harold McGee’s book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Nevertheless, buttermilk is a tenderizer in bread and pastries. Of and by itself I don’t think it has much super-tenderizing powers, but combined with flour and fat, it must develop the tenderness. I’ve never found that using the dried buttermilk powder works as well. I’ve never tried a side by side trial, but something happens, not good I mean, when they dry buttermilk.
Technically, what we buy at our grocery stores ISN’T buttermilk. It’s a cultured buttermilk. Real buttermilk is a by-product of real cream when the butterfat liquids run off in the process of making butter. I haven’t a clue how to find real honest-to-goodness buttermilk. I believe I’ve looked at Whole Foods, thinking surely they’d have it, but they didn’t when I visited the store some months ago. If you’re a farmer or near dairy farmers, perhaps you can buy it directly. I’d love to try it in baking. I remember trying buttermilk when I was a child, on my grandfather’s farm. He didn’t have dairy cattle, but his brother did, on adjoining land. I didn’t love drinking it, as my grandfather did, but it was definitely more tasty. More tangy for sure, but that’s about all I recall.
But, for purposes of providing tenderness to baked goods, store-bought buttermilk suffices. Our normal buttermilk starts with skim milk, actually, then they culture it somehow and it ends up being a low-fat product and has the consistency of real buttermilk. The little tiny globules in store-bought buttermilk is produced – it’s not natural to the product. It is what it is, and we’re mostly stuck with it. If you want to know whether your buttermilk is or isn’t real, look for the word cultured. That’s the manufactured (fake) stuff. If it says pure buttermilk, give it a try. Taste it too.
Now, back to these scones. They’re mixed together much like any other scone mixture, so I won’t belabor that process. The batter does contain eggs – that’s not always in scones – they tenderize baked things also. The only thing Phillis Carey said about this recipe is that it’s imperative you not add any more flour than necessary – more flour = dry and less tender. You’ll develop a rhythm once you make these yourselves. Just know the batter is very wet and you want to keep it that way as much as possible. Your hands will get kind of raggedy from the sticky dough, but that’s okay!
You don’t have to make the marmalade butter, but it’s so easy to do, and would add an especially nice touch if you’re making these for guests, particularly. Just mix butter, marmalade and a pinch of salt if you use unsalted butter. Let it sit for awhile so the flavors meld a bit. Otherwise, serve with butter and whatever jam you have on hand.
What’s GOOD: if you’re a lover of fall, gingerbread or pumpkin pie spices, you’ll love these scones. They’re super tender from the buttermilk and from very little handling. You’ll really enjoy these. I just about guarantee it. If you have left overs, wrap them in foil and freeze for another day.
What’s NOT: nothing that I can think of.
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Gingerbread Scones with Marmalade Butter
Recipe By: Phillis Carey cooking class, Sept. 2013
Serving Size: 12
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter — diced and chilled
1 large egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon molasses
1 large egg — (for the egg wash)
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon sugar — (to sprinkle on top)
MARMALADE BUTTER:
1/2 cup unsalted butter — at room temperature
3 tablespoons orange marmalade — or apricot jam (chopped)
1 dash salt
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Add ginger, cloves and nutmeg and whisk until well blended. Cut or rub in butter until pieces are the size of peas.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk and molasses until blended. Pour into the flour mixture, stir with a fork until evenly moistened. With hands, quickly and gently press together to form a dough. Divide dough in half and press each into about a 6-7 inch circle, about 1-inch thick.
3. Gently transfer dough to a large baking sheet, then cut into 6 wedges each, leaving the circle in its shape, just barely separating them.
4. In a small bowl whisk together 1 egg and water, then lightly brush this over the top of scones. Sprinkle tops with the 1 T. granulated sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Internal temperature should be 200°F. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp with Marmalade Butter.
5. MARMALADE BUTTER: Place softened butter and marmalade in food processor and process until smooth. Scrape into a decorative bowl (or individual small ramekins). Chill until serving time, allowing butter to warm to room temp for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Per Serving: 299 Calories; 17g Fat (49.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 34g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 77mg Cholesterol; 187mg Sodium.
Mary S
said on December 8th, 2013:
Absolutely lovely! I am on my way into the kitchen to put together a batch of these now. What a mid-day treat they will be. Thank you!
Great, Mary. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did! . . .carolyn t