I mentioned on my facebook page earlier that this is one of my favorite pieces of music-
Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini
It’s also kind of the way I cook. Well, except when the baby is whining, the teens are ornery and my husband is oblivious. Then… not so rhapsodic. 😛 But generally speaking, cooking is a sort of rhapsody to me. It’s melodies and lyrics and booming orchestras all wrapped up in my cooking. But the problem is this…. like those horrid people who cover classics and remake them in Pop music *cough Michael Bolton/Mariah Carey* cough*, I am incapable of making something and keeping it as it was originally intended to be. Sometimes, this leads to total disaster and we just aren’t going to talk about that because I’m old and vain and refuse to have you laugh at me when I haven’t meant for that to happen. 😀
But other times, it works out quite well and that is when we have “Rhapsody On A Theme”.
Today, the theme was me wishing it were already Autumn and wanting something made with Pumpkin;Â preferably scones. But could I just make Pumpkin scones and call it done? Nooooooo… not me! As you already know is par for the course, I have to mess with things and make them…well… MINE. So I did. I had just brought up from downstairs a bag of butterscotch candy. You know the ones. The little hard golden yellow ones. So the thought struck me that something about butterscotch and pumpkin and all the spices going with it seemed to go together. So I crushed up some of the butterscotch and mixed it in with the scone dough. Then sprinkled some on top before baking them. Then sprinkled a bit more on after glazing. And when it comes to pumpkiny treats, I have always been of the mind that 99.9% of recipes never have enough spices. I mean, c’mon… 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and other yummy spices!? No way mannnnnnn. I need more! More I say!! So…erhmmm… I added more. If you aren’t as fond of lots of sweet spice, go ahead and use less.
The result was a moist tender scone with a yummy Pumpkin spice flavor and a hint of butterscotch. That came with a spiced glaze and more hints of butterscotch. All in all, I’ll call ths one of my more successful rhapsodies 😀 These are quickly put together if you use the food processor. I didn’t use a mixer but I can’t see it taking much longer if you did. I hope you like it. If not, mail them to me. I’ll eat your share. 😛
These taste like Autumn and I don’t know about you but I’m ready.
Pumpkin Butterscotch Scones With A Spiced Butterscotch Glaze
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 7 tablespoons cold butter, cut into thin slices
- 35 butterscotch disc candies, ground in the food processor
- SPICED GLAZE-
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup of the ground butterscotch discs (set remaining aside to use to sprinkle on scones before baking and after glazing), salt, sugar and spices in bowl of food processor.
- Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until no chunks of butter remain.
- Add in the pumpkin, egg and cream. Pulse until the mixture comes together into a soft ball.
- Dump the dough out onto a VERY lightly floured board. Pat out into a round about 3/4’s of an inch thick.
- Transfer dough to a lightly greased baking pan. Using a sharp knife, score all the way through the dough, cutting into 6 to 8 scones (I did six very large ones cause I know the guys I live with but normal people would want smaller ones lol) but don’t separate the scones. Sprinkle with half of the remaining ground butterscotch discs.
- Bake at 425 for 14 to 16 minutes or until they are light golden brown and firm on top.
- Cool on a wire rack.
- While they cool, whisk together all the glaze ingredients. Spoon the glaze on top of the cooled scones, spreading to cover. Sprinkle with the remaining crushed butterscotch. Let the scones sit for about half an hour so that the glaze can set.
- Eat. Wish for a warm cozy fire and a cup of hot cider.
