lemon ginger scones

Scones are low in my repertoire since they usually involve the dreaded cutting of butter into flour. My overly austere take on kitchen gadgets relegates the task to a pair of steak knives. I don’t know why this is oft suggested as an acceptable alternative, because ‘pea-sized’ chunks of butter are a pipe dream.

These scones, however, are dreamy, dreamy, dreamy. Light, buttery, bright. Three forms of ginger provide the elegant balance of spicy sweetness. And best of all, the butter incorporation is outsourced to ye olde stand mixer. Yee-haw.

My only foible was the dough was far stickier than the recipe indicated, requiring several rounds in the freezer to eek out the dough into scone form.

Lemon Ginger Scones
From Joanne Chang’s Flour cookbook
(The directions in the book are really well written, and far more detailed than the synopsis here. Check it out!)

2 3/4 c AP flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 c crystallized ginger, finely chopped
2 tbs lemon zest

1 3/4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 c cold buttermilk
1/2 c cold heavy cream
1 egg
2 tbs fresh grated ginger

Heat oven 350 F.

In a stand mixer, combine all dry ingredients, ground ginger, crystallized ginger, and lemon zest. Scatter butter in, and beat on low speed for ~30 seconds, just till the dough comes together.

In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, cream, egg, and grated ginger. On low speed, pour this mixture into the flour mixture. Beat till it just comes together, ~30 seconds.

Dump dough out onto a well-floured surface. If the dough is super sticky (mine was), pop into the fridge for a few minutes, then gently roll out dough into a 1-in. thick rectangle. Cut into scone shape of your preference. I made about 10 triangles. I had to freeze my dough again to ease transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool a bit then enjoy!

ginger persimmon bread

Last week I tried to ‘stump the bartender’ with some persimmons. While the bartender was only mildly puzzled, a number of onlookers mistook them for tomatoes. While not unfamiliar with this fruit, I’ve never been wild about them. My experience was limited to mom handing me a peeled one, declaring it “dessert” and that I “should eat it.” Go, Asian desserts! They’re mildly flavored, kinda pretty, and just not very exciting.

Then came along persimmon bread in all its warm, spicy, and inexplicably addicting goodness. It’s like pumpkin bread, in that you don’t taste the persimmon, exactly, but you can’t stop going back for one more, tiny slice. Go on and become a persimmon convert.

The recipe calls for the more astringent Hachiya persimmon, but I subbed with Fuyu to great effect.

Ginger Persimmon Bread
From Joy the Baker

1/2 c persimmon pulp
1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt

1 c sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 heaping tsp finely grated fresh ginger

Heat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9x4x3-in. loaf pan.

In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together persimmon pulp and baking soda. This will cause it to gel.

In another bowl whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, spices, and fresh ginger. Whisk in the persimmon mixture. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, one third at a time, mixing as you go along.

Pour into loaf pan and bake 55 to 60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the loaf comes out clean.

spritely ginger spice cookies

"Only once the cookie jar is full can the brain be filled." - fortune cookie

Okay, I made that up, but it's true. I needed these cookies to study, paper write, and generally function. True story. When your pantry is plundered after a week of deadlines, these ginger spice cookies are the open arms you turn to.

The cookies are sneakily seductive, showcasing a melange of fresh ginger, molasses, and cardamom. A little bit of cocoa powder melds the spices together. Fattened up with oil and yogurt, they bake up light and soft.

For a fancy schmancy touch they are topped with coarse salt and rolled in rapadura, an unrefined, ungranulated cane sugar. It looks a bit like sand, has a slightly fruity smell, and tastes just barely sweet, practically unrecognizable as anything we usually perceive as sugar. The most fascinating part is that it leaves an almost effervescent feeling in your mouth. The sensation of lightness complemented the softness of the cookie really well. Sucanat is a very close, slightly more common rapadura analog. If you see some, I definitely suggest trying it!

Spritely Ginger Spice Cookies

Rather adapted from Prudence Pennywise

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup yogurt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 egg

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

2 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cardamom

½ tsp cloves

¼ tsp salt

rapadura

coarse salt

Preheat oven 350 F.

Beat together oil, yogurt, sugar, molasses, and ginger. Next, beat in the egg. Hooray emulsifications!

In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Slowly add this flour mixture into the oil mixture and stir. The dough will be pretty sticky, so chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Scoop out ping pong sized dough balls, roll them in rapadura, and top with a few grains of coarse salt. Bake approximately 12 minutes - shorter if you want a softer cookie, longer if you like it crunchy.