Ginger Cream Scones with Rhubarb Cherry and Honey Jam

I've combined two recipes in this post, Ginger Cream Scones and Rhubarb Cherry and Honey Jam.  The Ginger Cream Scones are from a traditional recipe with added ginger.  These tender golden gems have a biscuit like texture, buttery and  slightly sweet with a ginger bite.  The Rhubarb Cherry and Honey Jam is a honey sweetened jam, if your like me and love a tart versus sweet jam, this is for you.  I've used a mild tasting local raw honey to the jam, a stronger tasting honey will overpower.  Added fresh or frozen sweet bing cherries adds a little sweetness to the mix not to mention a beautiful bright color.

Ingredients

For the Scones...

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/3 cup (5 1/3 Tbs.) cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch bits

2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons heavy cream for brushing on top of scoons

extra sugar for sprinkling, optional

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger, crystallized ginger and salt.  Whisk together.  Add cold butter bits and with a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk egg, add heavy cream and grated fresh ginger, whisk to combine.  Add to the dry mixture and stir with a spatula until combined and mixture starts to come together.

Pour out the dough onto a clean work table.  With your hands, gather together and form into a ball.  Flatten ball into a disk about 8 inches in diameter.

With a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.

Separate wedges, place wedges on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar if desired. 

Note: I double pan these as they tend to brown to much on the bottom.

Bake in the preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven when golden brown on top and transfer with a spatula to a wire rack.  May be served warm or cool with your favorite jam or good quality butter.  Enjoy!

Rhubarb Cherry and Honey Jam

Ingredients

6 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups pitted bing cherries

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup mild tasting raw honey

2 teaspoons calcium water (see instructions)

3 teaspoons pectin

Makes 6- 8 ounce jars

Prepare your canning jars by washing thoroughly and place them in the rack of a large canning pot filled with hot water.  Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.  Let jars stand in the hot water.  

In a separate pot, bring lids and rings to a boil.  Turn off the heat and let stand in the hot water while preparing the jam.

In a medium sized kettle, (I used a 6 quart pot) combine the rhubarb and cherries with 1/2 cup of water.  Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until rhubarb becomes very soft.  Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice.  I used a potato masher to mash the fruit for a smoother texture.

To make the calcium water, measure 1/2 teaspoon calcium powder (from the small packet in the pectin box) with 1/2 cup filtered water in a small clean jar with a lid, shake till dissolved.  Add 2 teaspoons of the calcium water to the rhubarb and mix well.  Save the rest of the calcium water for later use in the refrigerator.  
Mix together in a separate bowl the honey and the 3 teaspoons pectin (from the larger packet) Stir well.



Place the rhubarb on top of the stove and on medium high heat, bring to a boil.  Pour the honey/pectin into the boiling fruit slowly, stirring as you add.  Stir well to dissolve the pectin.  Bring the jam back to a boil, stirring continuously.  Remove from the heat.  Skim off any foam from the top.

Carefully lift the rack out of the water.  Using canning tongs, dump the water from the jar down the drain.  Using a clean canning jar funnel, ladle jam into the hot jar filling up to within an inch of the top.  With a clean paper towel, wipe off any jam that may have spilled on the rim of the jar and place the lid and ring on the jar, tighten securely.  Repeat with the remaining jars.  




Place the jars back into the canning rack and submerse into the pot, adding more water to cover the jars by 1 inch or more.  Bring the water to a boil and process for 10 minutes, turn off the heat.  Place a towel on the counter near the stove and carefully lift the rack out of the pot and place the jars on the towel to cool.  Jam will thicken when cooled completely.  Store unopened jars in a cool dark pantry for up to a year.  Store opened jars in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Molasses Spice Cookies

October in Maine is the most beautiful time of year for me.  I love the cool crisp days, the fall colors and baking in a warm kitchen.  It seams to me that ginger, cinnamon and cloves are a fall kind of spice.  These warm spices combined with molasses make the most, soft and chewy, delicious cookies ever!  Molasses Spice Cookies are fall comfort food at its best.

 

 Just a couple of welcoming doors in Mid-Coast Maine, adorned in fall colors.

                 

♥♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥♥

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup sugar, plus more for topping

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled

3 tablespoons minced candied ginger

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

1.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, set aside.

2.  In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, fitter with a paddle attachment, combine the egg and molasses on low speed.  Add the sugar and candied ginger and beat on medium speed until well combined.

3.  On low speed, add the flour mixture slowly and mix until thoroughly combined.

4.  With a small 1 1/2 inch scoop, or use a heaping tablespoon, scoop dough and form into a ball, roll in a bowl of sugar to coat the whole ball.  Place on a dinner plate. Scoop, roll and coat the rest of the dough placing each ball on the plate.  Refrigerate the plate of dough balls for at least an hour.

 5.  Preheat the oven to 350° Position 2 racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the parchment lined pans.

6.  Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes, then rotate the pans from top to bottom and turning each pan.  Bake another 7 minutes or until dark golden, puffed and crackled on the top.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy! 

 

Honey Ginger Ice Cream with Balsamic Roasted Cherries

      Homemade ice cream is a summertime indulgence that I'm happy to indulge in any time of the year.  Whether you crank it by hand or let a motor do the work the result is a creamy, cool delight.  We are fortunate enough to live in an area where pastured fresh raw dairy and farm fresh eggs are readily available locally.  This recipe calls for just those ingredients.  The eggs in this recipe are used raw, so I would not recommend using anything but the freshest available, not from the grocery store.  The balsamic vinegar I used in this recipe was from Fiore, a dark chocolate balsamic vinegar, but any good quality balsamic vinegar will work well.

Ingredients

 

3 cups raw unpasteurized heavy cream

3 egg yolks from a local pastured source

1/3 - 1/2 cup raw honey, depending on your taste

1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder

2 Tablespoons finely minced crystallized ginger

the contents of 1 vanilla bean

3 cups of dark sweet cherries

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons dark balsamic vinegar

1.   Mix heavy cream, egg yolks, honey and arrowroot together in a large bowl, whisk together until completely incorporated.  Scrape the seeds out from the vanilla bean and add with the crystallized ginger to the cream mixture, mix well.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

 

2.     Preheat the oven to 400°.  Wash stem and pit the cherries, add to a bowl with the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar.  Toss together to mix.  Pour cherries in a baking dish in a single layer and bake for 10 - 14 minutes, glaze will bubble but don't allow it to get dark.  Remove from oven and cool.  Place cooled cherries in a bowl and refrigerate until cold.

 

3.   I used a motorized ice cream maker for this recipe.  Be sure your ice cream maker bowl has been frozen at least 24 hours in your freezer before using.  Follow manufacturers instructions and process as stated.  When your ice cream starts to thicken as shown...

... drain the cherries, (saving the liquid to pour over your ice cream, yum) and continue to churn until done.  Enjoy! 

 

For more great recipes, click the link below

What Kate Baked 

Bacon Fat Gingersnaps

Bacon seems to be all the rage these days, bacon ice cream, candied bacon, and the altogether funny, big bowl of bacon with a lettuce leaf in the middle, "look I made a salad" of Face Book fame.  I always get a chuckle out of that one.  I thought I would get on the band wagon myself when I found these wonderful looking Bacon Fat Gingersnaps over at Leite's Culinaria

These crunchy, spicy and slightly smoky little cookies are a true delight!  They are quick and easy to put together but you do have to have a supply of bacon drippings on hand.  I've been saving bacon drippings for two weeks, waiting to get just the right amount in my measuring cup.  It didn't help that the bacon I buy is quite lean, so rendering fat from that bacon was a lengthy process.  I hope you'll give them a try!

 Ingredients

3/4 cup bacon drippings (from 1 1/2 -2 pounds of bacon) at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses (not Blackstrap)

1 large egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

extra sugar for rolling the cookie dough in.

 

                                    Rendering that bacon Fat!

1.   Sift flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl.  Add bacon drippings, granulated sugar, brown sugar, molasses and egg.  Mix together until a stiff dough forms.  Gather together into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours up to two days.

 

2.   Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, pour in about a 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.  With a small scoop or a tablespoon scoop out dough and form into balls.  Roll the dough balls in the sugar and place them on the parchment lined pans about 2" apart.

3.   Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool in the pan slightly, then transfer to a wire rack.

Rhubarb Filled Ginger Shortbread

I've been wanting to feature these shortbreads since I started thinking about recipe blogging and waiting in anticipation for those little green rhubarb sprouts to come shooting through the ground.  When we moved to this old farm house 13 years ago, I was happy to find a beautiful patch of rhubarb growing near the stone foundation behind the barn.  Who knows how long this sturdy plant has been thriving in this warm and sunny location.  The long wait is finally here, my rhubarb is ready to be cut and this recipe is ready to be revealed.  The inspiration for my Rhubarb Filled Ginger Shortbread, came from Julia Child's  Baking with Julia  Her recipe for Hungarian Shortbread is what started it all.  This recipe requires a little arm muscle, I hope your up for it!

 Ingredients

For the filling...

1 lbs. fresh rhubarb cut into 1" pieces

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup of water

grated peel of 1 lemon 

1.   Place the rhubarb, sugar and water in a medium sized saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook stirring often, until the rhubarb softens and the rhubarb seems to melt.  Continue cooking until some of the juices evaporate about 10 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon zest and cool completely. 

For the shortbread...

4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 large egg yolks

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup crystallized ginger, very finely minced

confectioners sugar, for dusting

1.   Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

2.   In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until it is pale in color and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks and sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Reduce the speed to low, add the crystallized ginger and mix in well.  Add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the ingredients are incorporated.

3.   Turn the dough out onto a work surface and gather it into a ball.  Cut in half and shape each half into a short fat log.  Wrap each half in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30-40 minutes.

 4.   Set oven temperature to 350°.  Grease a 9X12 inch baking pan with butter.  Remove one of the logs from the freezer, and using the side of a box grater with the largest holes, (now mind you this is where it gets fun) grate the dough onto a piece of parchment paper.  This technique is unusual but results in a light textured buttery shortbread. 

Turn out the grated dough into the greased baking pan and gently spread the dough throughout the pan evenly.  Don't press on the dough, you want to keep it light.

5.   Spoon the cooled rhubarb evenly over the top of the dough.  Grate the remaining dough and distribute evenly over the rhubarb.  

6.   Bake the shortbread for about 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.  Dust heavily with confectioners sugar.  Cut into 12 or 24 pieces.  

 

By now your arms have recovered from all that grating, you can sit down with a nice hot cup of tea, and contemplate your workout while enjoying your Rhubarb Filled Ginger Shortbread.  Enjoy!