Ginger Scones: A Recipe

When your son is up at 6:30, you have plenty of time to think about breakfast pastry. Last weekend, I made two cakes (well, cake like items), and there was much frosting. I had a bowl of egg yolks waiting to be used. I had milk and fresh ginger. I had butter. I will have scones!

These are more eggy than traditional scones, lightly sweet, with a hint of ginger. I had mine with cinnamon plum tea and a dollop of maple syrup sweetened buffalo milk yogurt. Sadly, I ate them before I remembered to take more pictures.

So, here they are, my weekend after making a ton of Italian Mousseline Buttercream Fresh Ginger Scones.

Fresh Ginger Scones
adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
2 TB. sugar, divided
1-2 TB. grated fresh ginger, or more to taste
5 TB cold butter, cut in pieces
4 large egg yolks, plus one for egg wash
3/4 c. whole milk

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, grease and flour a 9" round cake pan.

Blend dry ingredients in a large mixing bow. Reserve 1 TB sugar. Add ginger to dry ingredients and blend. Drop in butter pieces, and blend into the flour mixture. Lightly whip the egg yolks into the milk, then in as few strokes as possible, stir the wet ingredients into the dry. When everything is moist, stir the dough ten times. I use a dough whisk, which keeps the amount of stress on the dough pretty low while looking pretty cool. Turn the dough out into the cake pan, and, with floured hands, pat it flat. Score the scones into 8 wedges, then blend the reserved yolk with a little water and brush lightly over the top of the scones. Sprinkle them with the reserved sugar, and bake.

Bittman recommends 7-9 minutes. In my old oven, it took 15 to get them golden brown with a little crust on the edges. I suggest starting at 7 and adding 2 minute intervals until they're perfect.