Ginger Scones with Pear Jam 

People sometimes ask me where I come up with my recipes. So some I eat at other’s homes or restaurants and either get recipes or try to deconstruct them, some I combine from cookbooks or websites (I give credit if it’s more or less the same recipe) and some literally pop into my head to try, I know not why. This is one such. I was in the mood for a breakfast/brunch treat (though awesome as a snack) and the ginger/pear combo struck me.

Having made various and sundry scones in the past, I decided to go with an easy version that you combine in a food processor (or by hand) and use 2 tablespoons to drop the batter which is a bit less traditional but saves you having to roll and cut out. It’s quite a thick dough and mounds beautifully so you get a nice high scone with half the work.

The jam takes time, I won’t lie, but is easy enough to put together and the floral notes of pear and lemon peel swirling together in the kitchen can make you a little crazy knowing you have to wait for it to cook down.

So let’s get started first with the pear jam which will last about 2 weeks in the fridge. I made a small batch since it’s just us 2 and even though I brought some scones and jam to my grandson Lavi (he was working part time in the office) I still had enough for us. DH nearly ruined my recipe by eating one of the pears I purchased specifically for it (You ate a pear! Yes, I ate a pear, he said bewildered. But I was going to make a recipe from it! Ummmm, okay?) It was actually pretty funny but ultimately fine since I used two pears and it was just right.

Gather your ingredients before you peel and core the pears. You will immediately put them in lemon juice to keep them from browning.

A note. You will need the lemon peel, lemon juice and lemon seeds!!! yes seeds!! for the jam. A quick explanation. You are not using pectin to thicken the jam. The lemon has all the pectin you need as well as the pears themselves but the lemon helps to release it. The seeds have a lot of pectin and it pays to put them in a little cheesecloth type of bag and toss right in there with the rest of the ingredients. So this is from two medium lemons. I didn’t use all the lemon peel, only the peel from one lemon and not all the juice but yes all the seeds. Save your extra juice for myriad other uses. They both freeze very well if you won’t use them up right away but you will use some lemon peel for the scones.

So put everything together in a stainless steel pot. Do not use a reactive pan or it’ll mess up your jam. So it’s pears chunked in the exact size you want, it doesn’t cook down into a mushy consistency so the size you cut is the size you end up with. I like smallish chunks. Put in the lemon juice, lemon peel, lemon seeds, sugar, cinnamon stick and 4 tablespoons water with the pears in the pot. Put on medium low heat and start cooking it down, stirring till the sugar dissolves. Then keep an eye on it without stirring, it will give up some liquid and start burbling and thickening. This takes time, about an hour and a half.

The liquid cooks down and as you can see above, starts darkening slightly and then turns an amber color and glossy and thick. If it’s a bit foamy, no worries, that’s normal.

It continues to thicken as it sits.

Now to the scones. If you make it in the food processor it’s ready in minutes. By hand you need to cut in the butter (or freeze the butter and grate it in) either way works. Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C. Yes, it’s high heat and that’s correct.

Gather your ingredients.

In the bowl is crystallized (or stem) ginger. I always cut it up a bit before putting in the food processor so it won’t stick to the blades.

Now place the flour, baking powder, sugar, lemon peel, ginger and salt in bowl of food processor (if by hand, stir together). Whiz together for a sec or two.

Add cold butter in cubes.

Buzz together just till it forms a crumbly dough with bits like peas and add the milk and yogurt.

Now you are going to pulse this very briefly just till the dough comes together, you don’t want to overwork and toughen it.

It literally sticks to your spoon and is very thick and kinda sticky. That’s correct. Now take your two tablespoons and depending how large you want them, make mounds and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.

If you look carefully, you can see I sprinkled some demerara (or raw) sugar on top. It adds a nice little dollop of flavor.

Place in hot oven (do not put in oven if it’s not to temp, it will come out wrong) and check carefully after about 16 minutes or so. Mine took about 20 minutes but keep an eye. They should be golden brown but don’t let them get too dark. Remove and place on wire racks to cool.

Serve to deserving people with your fabulous pear jam and bask in compliments. Or eat ’em yourself! 🙂 These freeze very well.

Ginger Scones with Pear Jam

¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel/zest

1/2 tsp. salt

2.5 cups flour  (300 grams) 

4 pieces crystallized (stem) ginger, chopped finely, either by hand or in food processor with other ingredients (30 grams) 

1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, grated

2/3 cup cold milk (158 ml)

2/3 cup plain yogurt (150 grams)

Demerara sugar for top

Yields 12 medium or 8 large scones

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 F/220 C.

Place sugar, baking powder, flour, salt, lemon peel and ginger in bowl of food processor. (or do by hand. You can chop ginger and cut in butter). I always cut ginger a bit with a knife so it won’t stick to blades. Process briefly. Add butter and pulse just till crumbs like peas form. Add milk and yogurt and pulse just till dough forms a mass and you can scoop out with a tablespoon a nice mound. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, place mounds, spaced about an inch apart. Sprinkle tops with demerara sugar and place in hot oven. Bake 18-20 minutes (peek after 16 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs) and when golden brown remove from oven and cool on wire racks. Serve with pear jam.

Pear Jam

2 large pears, 306 grams peeled, cored and chopped in small chunks -2 cups of chunks

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel (approximately peel from one lemon)

seeds from 1-2 lemons, put in cheesecloth type bag

1 cinnamon stick 

1 cup sugar 

4 tablespoons water

Directions:

Immediately after peeling, coring and chunking pears, toss in the lemon juice. Then place in stainless steel pot, scraping out all the lemon juice with the pears. Add the sugar, cinnamon stick, grated lemon peel, water and put the lemon seeds in a cheesecloth bag and put in pot and bring to a medium low boil, stirring till sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, stop stirring and let burble on medium low heat. It will initially give up a bit of liquid and then will start to cook down. Don’t stir it and after an hour you will see it starting to look thicker. It should take about an hour and a half and will turn a beautiful amber color. Remove from heat and let cool and it will continue to thicken up. Place in glass jars to store, yields about 1.5 cups of jam. Keeps about 2 weeks in the fridge.