Baked Pumpkin-A First
I seem to continually draw attention to the fact that I am getting old. This is not because I am ill or feeling old, but because there comes a time in your life when you think that you have perhaps learned everything that you are capable of learning. Well, in my case I continually amaze(even) myself that, even though you might think that I have reached that stage, the opposite is true. I bet I learn something new every waking hour of my day.
I have never baked a pumpkin. In fact, I have never tasted pumpkin served as a vegetable until this summer. This is in spite of the fact that Precious Ramotswe, my all time favourite character in the Botswana series written by Alexander McCall Smith, eats baked pumpkin just about every evening. Well tonight I am baking a pumpkin and as I Googled pumpkin recipes, my own blog posts came up (life is strange). Anyway, my extended family is eagerly waiting the time that the Frenchman will post his glazed pumpkin cookie recipe that he contributed to last weekend’s Thanksgiving dinner, but in the mean time, I thought that I might be able to stave them off with his Pumpkin Scone recipe that he has already shared with me.
- Scones:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 6 Tablespoons cold butter
- ½ cup canned pumpkin
- 3 Tablespoons half-and-half
- 1 large egg
- Sugar Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons whole milk
- Spiced Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch ginger
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl.
- With a fork, pastry knife, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter remain. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk pumpkin, half and half, and egg.
- Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
- Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide).
- Use a large knife to slice the dough into three equal portions. Cut diagonally to produce 6 triangular slices of dough.
- Place on prepared baking sheet from step 2.
- Bake for 14–16 minutes until scones turn light brown.
- Place on wire rack to cool.
- Sugar Glaze:
- Mix the powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoon milk together until smooth.
- Brush glaze over the top of each cooled scone.
Kath’s quote: “One can never know too much; the more one learns, the more one sees the need to learn more and that study as well as broadening the mind of the craftsman provides an easy way of perfecting yourself in the practice of your art.”-Auguste Escoffier
Love -that is all.
