When I was asked to come up with a recipe using pumpkin for one of my “What’s for Dinner” classes at Loblaw’s, I was so excited (I’m a Chef, this excites me!). There are literally thousands – if not more, recipes out there using pumpkin so I knew the recipe would be out there, the trick was to find the right one. My trademark – you know it, is a chili pepper and anyone who knows me or has attended one of my classes knows if there is a great recipe out there, it can be made just that much better by adding a chili or two.
I found a delicious recipe for a savoury scone. It’s my take on classic scones using curry powder – a mild one, topped with a most delicious spicy/sweet curry glaze. I cut mine into 2” x 2” squares and made about 28 pieces. My raw dough was about 3/8” thick, but the finished baking height was over 1”. You could make yours in the traditional round with wedges or more conventional larger squares. You could serve this as a hors d’oeuvres with a piece of prosciutto or smoked salmon/cream cheese in the middle or some pesto and arugula – a one bite hors d’oeuvres. One batch will make more than enough mini squares – 1” x 1”. The main thing to remember is don’t overwork your dough. Give these a try. Deceivingly delicious!
Ingredients
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (I know, what do you with the other 2 cups of pumpkin in the can)
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2 Thai Chilies – finely chopped (you could use Jalapeno for a milder flavour but the heat was complimented nicely by the sweet curry glaze) – optional, but can also be reduced to 1 chili (but do give this a try with some heat)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp mild yellow curry powder (if you have Madras Curry powder, use a 1/4 tsp mixed with the mild yellow curry powder or it will be strongly flavoured. You can also reduce the amount to 1/4 teaspoon in total if desired, it shouldn’t be overpoweringly curried)
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into small bits
for the glaze
½+ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp whipping cream
1/4 tsp curry powder – or to taste
method
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
With the mixing tool attached to the stirring blade, add the pumpkin, eggs, and cream to the stainless steel bowl – mix at speed 2, 30 seconds, until smooth – scrape contents (with a rubber spatula) into a separate bowl
Remove the mixing tool attachment but leave the stirring blade in place – add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chili, allspice, and curry powder – pulse at speed 3 for a couple of seconds each – this just aerates the flour for a lighter dough. Toss in the chilled butter bits – pulsing at speed 3, work the butter into the dry ingredients until you’re left with a crumbly mixture
Add the pumpkin/cream mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until the dough comes together. (Note: the secret to great scones is not to over mix) – pulse this at speed 3 a few seconds at a time
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a large circle (or square) that’s about 1/2″ thick. Use a bench scraper or large knife or cookie cutter to stamp out as many scones as possible. The dough scraps can be baked as they are – remember what I always say, the Chef has to try the scraps to ensure quality of the product 🙂.
Place scones onto the baking sheet, they don’t spread so they don’t need too much space between each
Bake for 10-12 minutes – until the bottom edges are light golden brown – mine were done in 12 minutes
Note: 425f is a hot oven so within a minute you can go from golden brown to burnt – keep the foucs
Remove the sheet from the oven. Let the scones rest for about 3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before adding the glaze.
For the Glaze:
Combine the icing sugar, milk and curry powder and stir with a fork or use a whisk. If it is too thick add a bit more cream, if too thin add some more icing sugar. Empty the contents into a piping bag and drizzle over the cooled scones. You could also use a fork or use the dip and turn method.
As always, enjoy!
