Gingerbread Raisin Scones

My last scone recipe! For...... now!

I have made some edits from the reviewers on Epicurious, so the recipe reflects what I did and is just a little bit different from the one at the link below. Also, the Epicurious people all hate raisins and lurve candied ginger, so that is an option for the future. They also suggest using 1/2 whole wheat flour, but as I was out I wasn't able to try this.

I ended up freezing these scones for at least a month before I ate them and they got rather flat from being squished in the freezer and then I cooked the first one too long and burned the edges a bit. So it's hard to tell how much I would love these fresh. The flavor was quite good-- just like a big gingerbread cookie-- and I actually liked the raisins, even if the texture suffered from the flattening above. I think these deserve another chance-- perhaps I'll make them again closer to Christmas.

From Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gingerbread-Raisin-Scones-1109

Ingredients:

2 C. all-purpose flour

1/3 C. packed dark brown sugar

1 T. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

6 T. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/3 C. milk

1 large egg

3 heaping T. light unsulfured molasses

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 - 1 C. raisins (I used baking raisins)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease baking sheet or cover with parchment paper. Blend first six ingredients together. Add butter and cut in or use food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add raisins and stir until raisins are lightly coated with flour.

2) Beat milk, egg, molasses, and vanilla in smaller bowl. Add wet ingredients into flour mixture, stirring just enough to thoroughly wet dry ingredients.

3) Gather dough into ball. On lightly floured surface, press dough into 1-inch-thick round. Cut round into 8 wedges. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Note: The Epicurious reviewers all liked brushing the tops of these with milk and then sprinkling on cinnamon sugar or lots of white sugar, so I did that and then froze them so they probably weren't as pretty as they might have been unfrozen. Sprinkling with turbinado sugar might also be fun.

Caramel for Apples 2

This is the second recipe the Robber and I tried and the flavor, as promised on Epicurious, is fantastic but unfortunately I overcooked our half batch (not having a thermometer) or something and it came out hard as a rock. :( Will have to try again on another day.

From Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Caramel-Dipped-Apples-102427

Ingredients:

1 lbs. dark brown sugar (about 2.25 C.)

16 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 C. dark corn syrup (used light)

1/3 C. pure maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. robust-flavored (dark) molasses (used light)

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in heavy 2 1/2-quart saucepan (about 3 inches deep). Stir with wooden spatula or spoon over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 15 minutes.

2. Attach clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean wooden spatula and occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 12 minutes.

3. Pour caramel into metal bowl (do not scrape pan). Submerge thermometer bulb in caramel; cool, without stirring, to 200°F, about 20 minutes.

Gingerbread Cookies

Copied from Mom so many years ago. I prefer to roll these out a little bit thicker so the cookie is softer, but you can also roll them out thin and have a crispy cookie. Have it your way.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. allspice

1/2 C. yellow shortening
3/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. dark molasses
1 egg
2 T. milk

Directions:

1. In one bowl, combine all the "dry" ingredients.

2. In separate bowl, cream butter & sugar together with electric beaters. Beat in molasses, egg, and milk. Stir flour mixture in by hand, 1/3 of mixture at a time. Mix thoroughly, but do not belabor the stirring. Can add a little extra milk if dough is too dry.

3. Chill dough (not necessary but helps firm it up a bit). Roll out to desired thickness, cut shapes out with cookie cutters and bake at 350F 10-12 minutes.

Gingerbread Cake

From Mom. Hits the spot every single time. I served this straight from the over after hosting Bible study tonight and it was spicy and warm, a big hit. I baked a big pan so I could revel in the left-overs.

Ingredients:

3/4 C. butter
3/4 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. light molasses
2 eggs
2 1/2 C. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 C. water or orange juice
2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.

2) In smaller mixing bowl, combine together flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

3) Cream butter and sugar together with hand mixer in larger bowl. Add in eggs and molasses, beat together until thoroughly blended.

4) Add orange juice or water to small pot on stove, bring to boil. While this is coming to a boil, stir the flour mixture into the molasses mixture by hand.

5) When the orange juice has come to a boil, add the baking soda directly to the orange juice, stir quickly, and the quickly add the foaming orange juice to the cake batter. Beat in thoroughly and quickly by hand. If you don't beat thoroughly, your cake might be uneven, if you go too slowly it won't rise as high.

Alternately, you can pour the batter minus the orange juice/baking soda into the pan and then pour the orange juice/baking soda over the batter without stirring it. This will produce a cake with two distinct layers, one dense on the bottom and a lighter one on top. I don't like this cake as much as the thoroughly stirred version.

6) Pour batter into pan, bake for 30-40 minutes and remove from oven when golden brown at the edges.

Serve warm or cold. I like to serve this with warm homemade or canned applesauce, Cool Whip/whipped cream, or with strawberries or peaches.