Crystalized Ginger Scones for Mother’s Day

Our mother’s day festivities this year will be very low-key. I’m making “Crystalized Ginger Scones” for myself and we are dining at home. To celebrate, I made some amazingly simple “melt-in-your-mouth” breakfast pastries. Who wants to spend alot of time in the kitchen on this special day? We are planning a relaxed morning brunch on our backyard deck with these “peppy” scones, fresh fruit and, of course, coffee — and perhaps a mimosa. It has been exactly one year since my 99-1/2 year old mother-in-law passed away. It was sad to see her health slipping, but the family gave her good care. She lived an amazing and productive life and it is an irony that she passed away on Mother’s Day. This experience reminds us to take good care of all the mothers around us on this special day. Plus, my children have grown up and moved away — so, no more “one-eye-toast” and breakfast in bed. Yes, sometimes simple is better.

Recipe Inspiration

My recipe inspiration comes from the internet site of America’s Test Kitchen. This site and related television show is affiliated with Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. The basic premise is that volunteers cook and test several variations of a recipe and then the producers give tips for what works and doesn’t work. Usually the resulting recipes are “spot-on”, very successful and tasty.

Somehow, I found myself on the distribution list for America’s Test Kitchen and now I am getting frequent E-mails from their internet site. Their recipe for “Small-Batch British Style Currant Scones” caught my attention. The recipe author gave several tips for making “fluffy and tender” scones. (The original recipe appears in Cook’s Illustrated March/April 2024.) The scones sounded too good to pass up. I decided to make a “small batch” of the scones for Mother’s Day using crystalized ginger rather than currants. Plus, the author stated that these scones are not too sweet, which appealed to me..

I modified the recipe by adding cultured buttermilk (rather than sweet, whole milk), baking soda and crystalized ginger (rather than currants.) The ginger gives a little “pop’ to the scones — which is quite nice. With the addition of ginger, you don’t really need to serve the scones with jam or jelly as do the British.

About crystalized ginger….I purchased a small container of this dried and sweetened ginger last winter at Spout’s Grocery Store. Crystalized ginger is made by soaking fresh ginger pieces in a sugar syrup. This tenderizes the course ginger fibers. Then the ginger is rolled in sugar and dried. The shelf-stable ginger lasts a long, long time and is a great substitute for fresh ginger in some recipes. Just chop it into small bits with a knife.

Recipe “Tricks”

The “tricks” used by America’s Test Kitchen to making light and fluffy scones is to used lots of baking powder (1 teaspoon per 1/2 cup flour) or 1 Tablespoon, total, in this recipe. Plus the recipe uses softened butter (rather than cold, solid butter) which is thoroughly rubbed it into the dough. This protects the flour from gluten development — thus avoiding “tough” scones. Plus, the dough is mixed enough just to combine the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and then kneaded briefly. In other words, don’t overmix things.

“One-Bowl” Recipe

These scones are so simple to make — it is a “one-bowl” recipe — and not a dreaded kitchen task at all. You can bake the scones the prior day — freeze the individual scones — and then re-heat in a 300 degree oven or in a microwave oven. I mixed the scones up by hand — rather than getting out a food processor — it took just a few minutes to mix up the dough. And, I had only one bowl to wash!

To make the scones, first, heat the oven to 500 degrees (yes, we’re following the advice of America’s Test Kitchen.) However, the oven temperature is lowered to 425 degrees when you actually bake the scones. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt). Cut in small chunks of butter using the back of a fork until the chunks are thoroughly incorporated. This takes some “elbow-grease.” I used the back of a fork and pressed it against the bottom of the bowl. The mixture should be crumbly. Chop up crystalized ginger and stir in.

In another bowl, combine the cultured buttermilk and egg. Stir this into the dry ingredients. It will form into a sticky, sticky dough ball. Transfer the dough to a pastry board — and spread lots of four both under and on top of the dough. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 times, adding more flour as needed — but be careful not to add too much flour.

This is a small batch of scones. Pat the dough into a 6″ square (don’t use a rolling pin). The dough should be about 1″ inch thick. Rather than trying to use a biscuit cutter to cut out scones, I scored the square into nine pieces. These are 2″ squares — perfect for small scones.

And, I have a new favorite kitchen gadget. It is a flour scraper and it makes scraping flour off a pastry board so easy. Where have I been all these years?

I froze the dough for 15 minutes; then transfered the partially frozen scones to the baking sheet, flipping them over so that the bottom side was up. After lowering oven temperature to 425 degrees, I placed them in the oven on the top rack and baked for 10 minutes until the scones were golden brown.

That’s it. These scones are best when served hot — right out of the oven.

Traditionally, scones are served with jam or jelly. However, these are good just “as is.” These are tender, fluffy scones — just a hint of sweetness and a bit of spice.

It is a beautiful, sunny day here in Louisiana. I’m looking forward to a relaxing morning in our backyard and to Facetime visits with family — since they are far away. And, we will reminisce about my mother-in-law and her wonderful life.

Enjoy this easy recipe!

This morning, an elegant magnolia tree blossom graced our backyard. It will be gone in a few days; we will enjoy it while we can.