Carrot-Ginger-Pecan Scones

I always love scones, but you never know that you are going to get. Cake-y springy scones, tough dried-out scones, or the perfect kind that are soft (but not like cake)  and with a crunch when you bite into them.

These fit the bill. I did change the recipe. See below. I had a cup or so of leftover cream cheese frosting (from the carrot cake I made last week.) King Arthur uploaded this recipe to Facebook yesterday, so here we are. 

The best part about baking these this morning while we having a downpour all day in Florida, was that I got all the ingredients together last night. I grated sweet Florida carrots and stored them in a plastic container. I mixed the flour, salt, ginger, and baking powder together in a covered bowl. I chopped the butter into tiny squares and put it in the freezer. I measured the cream and refrigerated it with the egg. I measured the 1/2 c. brown sugar and set it aside in a Ziploc. I toasted the pecans and chopped them. 

I slept late this morning because I had been up since 2:15 am yesterday (woke to a circling helicopter and found out it was a manhunt!) When I got downstairs this morning, it was a perfect time to make the scones.

• 2/3 c. pecans
• 1 very large Florida carrot grated or 1-1/4 cups 
• 1/2 - 1 cut up candied ginger bits (cut from candied ginger or commercially packaged)
• 1/2 heavy cream
• 6 T unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2-1/3 flour
• 3/4 t salt
• 1 tsp ginger
• 2-1/4 tsp baking powder

Set oven temp for toasted pecans to 400 degrees. (You will turn this down to 375 degrees right as you place the baking sheet in the oven.

*Original recipe called for 1/2 tsp ginger, and1/2 tsp cinnamon and King Arthur Cinnamon Sweet Bits. I left out the cinnamon and Cinnamon Bits and replaced with more ginger and candied ginger. 

Mix the flour, salt, ginger and baking powder well. Add the butter and mix well with your fingers or with a pastry blender until all butter has been mixed in. I suppose you could do this with a food processor, processing just until the mixture looks like flour but there are no butter chunks visible. 

Whisk the cream, egg and sugar together. Make a well in the flour/butter mixture and then use a

flexible spatula or your buttered hands to mix just until no more flour shows as separate to the dough.

Mold 1/2 the dough on parchment into a round about 4" by 1". Do the same with the other 1/2. Place the rounds in the freezer and freeze for 15 minutes.

Cut the rounds with a large knife into 8 triangles each. Place on parchment on a baking sheet and turn oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool off the baking sheet.

Frost with a cream-cheese frosting. If not using a frosting, use a pastry brush and extra cream on the scones and sprinkle with coarse sparkling sugar. 

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

 

For Easter dinner this year, it was just the two of us in Verandah. We decided to grill lamb lollipops and potato salad, and, for dessert, leftover Graham Carrot Torte.

We had a few dozen Brussels sprouts left over from Beef Bolognese and Pasta. In that recipe, you remove the outer leaves and keep the rest of the sprout for later. These are what we sliced thin, removing any tough cores.

To the sprouts, add 6-10 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled and 1/3 c. raisins (or dried cranberries. Toast 1 cup of chopped walnuts in a saute pan over medium heat for 5 minutes, tossing to toast. Add to the sprouts, bacon and raisins/cranberries.

Whisk together: 

• 3/4 tsp. dijon mustard
• 2T maple syrup
• 3 T apple cider vinegar
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Pour over salad and toss. 

Smitten Kitchen's Carrot Graham Layer Cake

I love Smitten Kitchen. This recipe came up this week on her Facebook page in time for me to make a dessert to take to an invited dinner. I also made simple Goat Cheese Ice Cream (no honey-thyme sauce or roasted cherries)  and added half a vanilla bean to the cooling custard. I'll bring just enough for a small scoop with the cake (and some to leave.)

Gerry couldn't find Graham cracker crumbs in the store, so brought home a box of crackers. About 6 crackers crumbed with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer made 3/4 cup with some to sprinkle on top.

Cake: Use 9-inch pans lined with 9-inch parchment rounds and spray with cooking spray. Next time, I will use 7-inch pans and make four layers for a pretty cake. 

Mix: 

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. fine sea salt or table salt
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• /4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger. 

 Set aside.

Place in a mixing bowl:

• 3/4 c. both granulated and dark brown sugars
• 3/4 cup PLUS 3 T. neutral oil or melted butter (I used Canola oil.)  

I mixed this with a hand mixer - the recipe calls for whisking together.  Add three eggs and mix some more. I learned the lesson to crack the eggs into a separate bowl or cup and NOT crack them individually into the bowl with the other ingredients. For perhaps the first time ever. I had a bad egg while baking (broken yolk and brownish color, but not terribly foul-smelling). I had to start over with all these ingredients (sugars, oil and eggs.)

When the eggs, oil and sugars are well-mixed, add 3 cups of shredded carrots and mix well with a spoon.

Mix in the flour mixture just until all the flour is mixed and none shows separately.

At this point, I had prepared the two pans I had and cut an extra 9-inch round of parchment.

I measured one heaping cup of batter into each of the two pans and another heaping cup into a separate bowl, trying to keep the batter as even as possible.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Sit the pans on racks to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out on the rack (slipping a knife along the edges.) Bake the third pan for the same 15-18 minutes.

Cool each layer and then frost, layering as you go. Sprinkle with extra graham cracker crumbs.

Frosting:

• 2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup or two sticks of unsalted butter at room temp.
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat all four ingredients well with a mixer. Keep at room temperature to frost.