The Zesty Ginger Scone with Raisins & Orange Glaze
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I went a bit scone-crazy a couple of weeks ago, which wasn’t hard to do (because I have always loved a good biscuit- especially ones with glaze that drips off the edges and sometimes pools underneath). I did this because I wanted to participate in Pastry Chicago’s Scone Competition (a cool organization that puts on contests for pastry students and people who aren’t professionals baking scones for a living), so I made three different types of scones involving raisins & spice (to satisfy the fact that California Raisins and The Spice House were sponsoring the event). I made The Husband sample each version. And when he steered me in the direction of ginger & orange, I proceeded to make several more batches to fool around with the recipe, seeking answers to such lucrative questions as:
- Browned butter or no browned butter?
- Honey glaze or orange glaze?
- Round biscuits or triangular?
- How do I transport a giant tin of scones on the train to the contest and not look like an idiot?
A couple of notes:
- I’ll post the other recipes that I trialed at some point soon (a cinnamon one which I think is pretty kick-bum and an oatmeal one with banana in it). The more scone recipes, the better, right?
- Don’t forget to take these out of the oven when your timer goes off, unlike me in this post (click here). Big mistake.
- I came in fourth in the contest, which I am actually okay with, despite being a blood-thirsty competitor. :)
- You can’t not look like an idiot with a giant tin of scones on the train.
1 cup unsalted butter, cubed and very cold (1/2 browned and then refrigerated until firm)
4 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla-infused sugar, plus more for sprinkling (or regular sugar; see Tips below)
2 teaspoons minced/dehydrated orange peel zest (from The Spice House)
2 teaspoons freshly grated organic orange peel zest
1/4 cup finely diced candied soft ginger
2/3 cups raisins, coarsely chopped (dark &/or golden)
1 2/3 cups buttermilk, very cold
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed organic orange juice with pulp
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons heavy cream
GLAZE & GARNISH:
1/3 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed organic orange juice, strained
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, diced (from The Spice House)
2 tablespoons candied orange zest (optional; see Tips below)
- In a large, heavy saucepan, brown ½ cup of the butter over medium heat until light brown in color (about 8 minutes), swirling the pan often. Remove from heat and chill until firm. (This step is optional- you can simply use regular butter for the full amount in lieu of browning half first.)
- In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, dried ginger, sugar, dried orange peel & fresh orange zest and pulse together until well blended. Add candied soft ginger and pulse until incorporated.
- Add ½ cup chilled, browned butter and ½ cup chilled regular butter to processor and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas. Pour into a large bowl, and stir raisins into mixture.
- In a measuring cup, combine cold buttermilk, orange juice and vanilla together and then pour into large bowl with flour-butter mixture. Stir until just incorporated and dump dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead 2 – 3 times to bind together. Pat into a 1” thick rectangle and cut into triangles using a sharp knife (wiped and floured before each cut). Place wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and refrigerate scones on baking sheet for at least 30 minutes (while oven preheats).
- In a small bowl, mix egg yolk and cream together and brush over tops of scones. Sprinkle vanilla sugar (approx. 1 tablespoon in total) over tops of scones, and bake for 20 minutes (until golden on tops and bottoms). Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
- In a small bowl, mix sifted confectioners’ sugar and strained orange juice until smooth. Brush over tops of barely warm scones, and sprinkle with diced crystallized ginger and candied orange zest. Eat while warm, or at room temperature on same day baked. Enjoy!
Tips:
- Browned butter is a magical thing. I think it smells like caramel, and would like to eat it just on its own (although that might border on thoroughly disgusting). Here’s the tip- when you’re scraping the butter out of the pan into a bowl that you can chill in fridge or freezer, make sure to scrape up the brown bits. Another tip- butter is sneaky. It will go from “browning” to “burned” in a seeming instant… so make sure to watch it and smell for a dark, toasty browning. If you start to smell the char, well, it’s probably too late. (As noted above, you can skip this step and just use regular butter for the whole recipe.)
- Chill out. Scones like cold cold cold ingredients, and they like to be cold before they are baked (so the butter can explode in a science-lesson kind of way when it bakes in the hot oven). After chopping your butter cubes up, put them in the freezer while you get the rest of your ingredients ready. And don’t skip step #5 above.
- Try using vanilla-infused sugar (sugar stored in a container with a vanilla bean)- but since you might not happen to have at the ready for this recipe, just make sure you save your vanilla beans after scraping them in the future. Put them in a jar or ziploc bag with sugar, and you’ll seriously taste & smell the difference.
- Clumping raisins? You have to be kind of deliberate when you fold in the raisins, or they will clump into a raisin glob and possibly annoy you when you bite into the finished scone. I’m not suggesting that you meticulously place the buggers one by one- but sprinkle half over your dough, fold, and then sprinkle the other half over top. (Since you don’t want to over mix dough, you don’t want to spend lots of time stirring just to spread the raisins around.)
- More on raisins… if they are hard going into the scones, they’ll be harder coming out of the oven. Use fresh ones, but if they are still too chewy, place them in a bowl and add a bit of OJ- microwave for a minute (with bowl covered in plastic wrap) to help plump them up. I never said you couldn’t use Grand Marnier or Cointreau.
- Shape options can vary, of course. Use a round biscuit cutter if you’d like- just make sure to clean and flour any cutter (or knife) between each cut. They say that a well-floured cutter helps the biscuits to rise higher. And height matters.
- Baking time varies by oven, of course, so make sure you don’t burn these babies (like my most recent recipe for disaster here); check after 15 and rotate pans around your oven to keep them baking evenly.
- Candied Orange Zest: in a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup of both water and sugar to a boil, and stir to dissolve sugar.
Add the zest of an orange (or use a vegetable peeler to peel the orange and slice into very thin strips) and add it to the saucepan.
Simmer (so turn the heat down to medium-low) for 8 minutes, and then drain and dry with a paper towel before sprinkling remaining tablespoon of sugar over zest. - Freeze-friendly: here’s a great idea- make the scones up to point #4, and then freeze (unbaked) until you are ready to use. Thaw for a few hours (or overnight) in your fridge before baking, and finish the steps above. Yes, you can freeze a baked scone, but nothing beats the taste of a fresh one out of the oven.
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