Back in the late Spring, I made these delicious apple ginger scones with my own version of meadowcream. It was a lot of fun, and I meant to write about it at the time but life sort of caught up with me.
The fun part about these was that I made the candied ginger myself! It’s actually quite easy, albeit a bit labor intensive. Of course store bought candied ginger is just fine, but if you want that real Redwall experience, here’s the recipe that I used:
Candied Ginger
Ingredients:
1 lb fresh ginger root
4 cups water
About 1 lb of sugar
Step 1: Peel the ginger. The easiest tool for this is something you already have in your kitchen...a spoon! This is best done with friends, as alone it can take quite a lot of time! If you’re on your own, maybe put on some music or an audiobook to keep you company.
Step 2: Slice the ginger into pieces about 1/8 inch thick. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect, they’ll taste great no matter what.
Step 3: Boil the water and ginger in a large pot over medium heat for about 35 minutes, or until the ginger is tender. Be careful not to burn yourself when you check it!
Step 4: Drain the ginger in a colander, but save about 1/4 cup of the water. Again, be very careful not to burn yourself.
Step 5: Add the water (1/4 cup), ginger, and sugar equal to the amount of ginger. You can weigh the ginger at this point to be precise, but it’s not a huge deal.
Step 6: Bring everything to a boil while stirring. Then turn down the heat to medium and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring consistently. When the syrup has almost completely evaporated, you’re done! Transfer the ginger pieces to a cooling rack, making sure to keep each piece separate.
Step 7: Once the ginger is cool, toss it with a bit of extra sugar to prevent sticking and store that delicious treat in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. However, in my house, there’s no way it would last even that long! It’s far too delicious to resist.
Now that the ginger is ready, it’s time to make scones! You can use any scone recipe you like, but I’ll write down mine here just in case you don’t have one in mind.
Ginger Apple Scones
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1⁄3 cup sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1⁄2 cup finely chopped peeled apple
1⁄4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 eggs
1⁄2 cup whipping cream
Step 1: Try not to eat all of your candied ginger before starting the scones.
Step 2: Okay, you can eat some, but at least leave enough for the scones!
Step 3: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 4: Mix together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
Step 5: Cut in the butter. You can use a pastry cutter, a fork, a knife, or just break it up into the flour mix with your fingers. Try not to let the butter warm up too much though! When it looks like crumbs, you’re done!
Step 6: Add in the apple and ginger.
Step 7: Stir in cream and lemon, as well as one of the eggs (but beat it first!)
Step 8: If the mixture is too wet and sticky, add flour until you can roll it out on a floured surface.
Step 9: Cut out scone shaped pieces. What is a scone shape? That’s up to you! I try to go for square or triangles, but the sky is the limit here.
Step 10: Take that second egg, add a bit of water or milk, and beat it. Brush that on top of your scones for a beautiful golden brown finish.
Step 11: Baking time! Put your scones in the over on a cookie sheet. If you have nonstick spray use that, if not, wax paper works just fine. They will likely be done in about 15-20 minutes, but keep an eye on them as every oven has its own personality.
Step 12: Top with cream, jam, or anything your heart desires!
I made meadowcream, which was simply 1 cup of heavy cream, a dash of cinnamon, and 1-2 tablespoons of honey. I prefer cream that’s less sweet, but you can adjust this to your own taste. Enjoy!
