Merry Christmas Mango Ginger Scones

Christmas morning ... Bloody Mary cocktails, vegetable strata , mango and ginger scones and cold clementines ... steaming hot coffee, homemade gingerbread cookies and chocolates, and Christmas stockings ... Ottolenghi signed 'To Susan - Yotam and Sami" ... Nigel Slater's Notes From the Larder and a new tagine ... international vanilla extracts and tea lotus blossoms ... bags of beans, rice, sea salt ... a very foodie Christmas all around!


This Christmas was a true collaboration between all of the cooks in our family. Sara wowed us with her vegetable strata that came from the oven spiced with hot sausage, red peppers, green onions, and Fontina cheese, Seth manned the Bloody Mary bar and mixed the spiciest cocktails with all the garnishes, Kate shopped the specialty stores of Brooklyn and Manhattan and brought beans, rice, salts, candies, nuts, and booze to add to the options for weekend cooking and drinking, Eric jumped in to help get scones and Christmas desserts ready for the ovens, SB hauled wood for the fires and kept the plates of Christmas cookies stocked, helped peel winter vegetables and chop potatoes for roasting. Yes, it was a very foodie Christmas!  And me? I made these scones for our Christmas brunch and a kicker of a pork roast for a late in the day Christmas dinner.

To boot, it snowed on the 26th, as we headed out to the local diner for an easy egg and coffee breakfast! It's turned into a white Christmas after all! Happy Holidays from SB and I and all the Lindquist foodies!

                                                                                            snow pictures courtesy of Kate Lindquist ... thanks, dearie !

Now for that easy scone recipe ... made in the food processor, dumped onto a floury counter top and kneaded quickly to incorporate the candied ginger and dried mango bits, patted into a circle and cut into wedges, and chilled before baking. Hot from the oven, these can't be beat ... just have a stick of soft butter ready and the hot coffee or tea ... lovely breakfast!

Mango and Ginger Scones

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
4 tbsp. cold butter, cut into small cubes
¼ c. minced dried mango
¼ c. minced candied ginger
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 tbsp. sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
½ c. light cream, half&half, or buttermilk
1 large egg

Making the Scones:

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

2. Drop the cubes of cold butter into the flour, mix and smash them with your clean fingertips until the mixture looks crumbly.

3. Add the lemon zest, sugars, mango, and ginger and toss to break up the zest and distribute the mango and ginger pieces.

4. Measure the cream into a large measuring cup, add the egg and beat with a fork.

5. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and mix quickly and briskly just until the liquid is incorporated and a stringy dough is formed.

6. Using your hands, quickly work the dough in 12 short brisk ‘kneading’ strokes, bringing any loose flour and fruit bits up from the bottom of the bowl and into the dough ball.

7. Lightly flour a cool surface and smash the dough ball quickly into a circle of dough that is about ¾ inch thick. 

8. Use a pizza cutter to cut the round of dough into scone wedges.

9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the wedges, slightly separated into the scone circle … place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.

10. Preheat the oven to 425°F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.

11. Beat an egg yolk with 1 tbsp. cream or milk

12. Brush the cold scones with the egg glaze and pop them in the pre-heated oven – bake for 11 - 14 minutes or until puffed, golden and shiny, and perfectly done.

13. Serve warm with soft butter and a jam of your choice … and a cuppa!