Pumpkin scones are a little hard to do, compared to other scones that are basically just a biscuit, because of the pumpkin. It throws off the flour : fat : liquid ratio, if you use fresh puree – and I’ve often assumed that commercial bakeries use dehydrated pumpkin flakes, something like the mix & eat baby food I used to prefer when my kids were little; you could add squash flakes or pea flakes to the rice cereal. They also come out of the oven looking kind of un-prepossessing – and kind of need a glaze. Although a sprinkle of big crystal sugar would probably be nice, too.
There’s an off recipe for pumpkin scones floating around – it’s on Epicurious – and I’ve been sent it in my Splendid Table newsletter. This morning, trying to figure out what to do with the carton of squash puree I’d thawed on Friday (thinking pumpkin soup, pumpkin pasta, that did not come to pass – that evening we walked to a brew pub and I had a Cubano and Mark had meatloaf) I thought maybe I should take on that recipe – bet I could fix it. As I was pondering though, I had this vague recollection – Maybe I already worked on this recipe … Sho nuff.
I spiced them up a little differently today – added some diced candied ginger because I found a bag with two slices and a little pre-diced in the bottom shoved in at the back of my baking cabinet, and I used cinnamon, ginger, allspice and mace. And I like dates and pumpkin, so I put in some of those chopped dates rolled in oat flour, that look like little sticks, because I had a bag of ’em in the fridge.
