Pear Ginger Scones

Laura Lewis goes all British this morning. Making classic scones, but adding a few ingredients to make them just a little more interesting.
By Laura Lewis

For me, the perfect morning starts with a latte and a scone. I’d like to then continue my perfect day by lying on the beach with a book for several hours, but I have to take what I can get. The goal, then, is perfect scones. Some coffeeshops, without naming names, have put people off scones by serving rock-hard lumps, but that’s easily remedied by making them at home. That also allows for a constant stream of different flavour combinations. My current favourite is pear ginger: the buttery pastry is punctuated by juicy fruit and enough ginger to give it a little bite, but still mild enough that it isn’t too shocking of a breakfast.

These scones are light, tender, and wonderfully buttery. The key is to work quickly and gently: use very cold butter, and don’t work the dough any more than you need to. The perfect texture doesn’t hold up for more than a day, but luckily the unbaked dough freezes easily. To make it a weekday breakfast, make a batch on Sunday and pop the unbaked tray in the freezer. Once the scones are frozen solid, you can repackage them in a plastic bag, and take them out individually to bake later in the week. No need to wait for them to defrost: just add a couple minutes to the baking time, and then enjoy your effortless scone.

Pear Ginger Scones:

• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 3/4 cup (180 mL) diced ripe pear, peeled (a little less than one pear)
• 5 tablespoons (71 g) cold salted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 cup (240 mL) heavy cream

For topping:

• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425F (220C). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, ground ginger, and salt. Stir in chopped ginger and diced pear.

See Also

Summer Memories: Blackberry Maple Scones

2. Working quickly, cut butter into the dry ingredients using two knives or a pastry blender. Continue cutting butter in until the mixture becomes more coarse, and the butter lumps are pea-sized. Stir in cream. Turn the dough out onto a surface and knead for a few seconds, just until the dough comes together.

3. Gently pat dough into an 8-inch circle, and cut into 8 wedges. Places wedges on an ungreased cookie sheet; brush tops with tablespoon of cream and then sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until browned, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes, then serve.