by Joy the Baker 15 Comments
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So let’s recreate them!
I’ve been incredibly nostalgic for a very specific baked good from my past. Now… I haven’t thought about the Apricot Ginger Scone from Clementine in Los Angeles in probably a decade, but some sort of Saturn Return must be in the air.
I’m currently in transition between this sweet little apartment in Houston and onto the new big Bakehouse in Bellville. There’s something about the conjunction of my choices and my stuff that’s always a reckoning. I’m packing up boxes thinking back to other big transition points in my life. How did I do those? With a lot help, fretting, and I remember distinctly – these scones.
As my last bake here in the Houston apartment, I’ve recreated these tender little scones I used to enjoy after a long walk through West Los Angeles. I walked because I drove a Volvo sedan from the early ’80s and I could barely afford gas. Those were the early days of the blog, navigating job interviews and saving up for my first Kitchen Aid mixer.
I’m still navigating but I suppose the waters are slightly different. Maybe deeper? Maybe not. It’s all perspective.
These scones are a nostalgic moment for me. For you – just a great tender weekend scone filled with soft dried apricot bits and hints of spicy ginger. Below are a few technique tips to make these scones extra light and soft.
Here’s how!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these Apricot Ginger Scones:
• all-purpose flour + cornstarch to mock up some pastry flour
• granulated sugar
• baking powder and kosher salt
• frozen unsalted butter
• cold heavy cream
• vanilla extract or even better, vanilla bean paste
• dried apricots and dried candied ginger
First, let’s talk about flour. I have all sorts of specialty flours in my cupboard except exactly the flour I want for these scones: pastry flour. Pastry flour is elusive in most grocery stores. All-purpose flour fills the shelves, and sure, there are a few options for cake flours but pastry flour is somewhere in between. Pastry flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose, but a higher protein content than cake flour making for lighter but still sturdy scones.
I’ve found a way to get softness out of the flour we already have in our cupboards: cornstarch. Cornstarch helps soften the rigid proteins in flour and easily absorbs liquid creating a lighter structure than gluten development. The result is a more tender scone!
In a large bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Second, let’s talk about butter. Cold butter is an essential element to scones. The coldest of butters is frozen. I like to grate most of a stick of butter on a box grater into flakey little butter shards. Now, it’s impossible to grate a whole stick without also grating a few finger tips (UGH!) so, what’s left of the frozen butter I quick cut into coarse butter shards.
Toss the cold butter flakes and shards into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Add the cold cream and gently stir into a very shaggy dough with a rubber spatula. Add the chopped apricots and ginger.
Dump the shaggy dough into a floured surface and gather into a 1-inch thick disk. Cut the disk in half and stack the two pieces of dough together and press or roll the dough into a 1 1/2-inch thick disk. It’s a very quickie lamination even though these scones are more cakey than layered.
Use a bench scraper to cut the scone disk into 8 relatively equal wedges.
I like to cozy the scones on a small quarter sheet pan. The scones will bake together but still be easy to separate after the come out of the oven. Baking the scones together helps the scones hold their shape.
Just before baking, brush each scone top with heavy cream and gently dip in granulated sugar to coat the top.
The result is that sugar-crisped, tender, buttery scone studded with soft apricot and spicy ginger pieces.
They’re decidedly not dense little triangles that require coffee to get down. They’re more like little pieces of cake more than they’re like biscuits. I am instantly transported back to my walk home from Clementine.
These Apricot Ginger Scones Were My Favorite Scones in Los Angeles
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.7 from 3 reviews
- Author: Joy the Baker adapted from Clementine for the LA Times
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20-24 minutes
- Total Time: about 1 hour
- Yield: makes 8 scones 1x
- Category: breakfast, brunch
- Method: baking
Description
A perfect cake scone filled with apricots and candied ginger. My favorite scone recreated from Clementine in Los Angeles.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, frozen and grated on the thick side of a box grater
- 1/2 cup diced dried apricots
- 1/3 cup diced candied ginger
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- a small bowl of granulated sugar for dipping the scones
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add the grated butter (and any butter you needed to coarsely chip) and toss to combine.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all but two tablespoons of the heavy cream and the vanilla extract. The rest of the cream we’ll brush on top of the scones so set it aside. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry using a rubber spatula until the cream has incorporated. Add the apricots and ginger. A shaggy wet dough will formed.
- Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface, pressing it together into a 1-inch thick disk. Cut the disk in half, stack, and press into a 1 1/2-inch thick disk, adding more flour to the counter or your hands as needed. Cut into quarters. Cut each quarter in half to form 8 total triangles. Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 1 to 2 inches apart, and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze while the oven preheats, about 20 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 2 tablespoons cream and dip each scone, cream side down, in the bowl of sugar. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Allow scones to cool before removing from the parchment to a wire rack. Serve just slightly warm or at room temperature.
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Reader Interactions
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Questions
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DebGarlo
Made exactly as directed. EXCELLENT!! Grating the butter was so clutch. I used candied ginger bits from Penzey’s. Passed them around to neighbors while still warm, 10/10 will beg me to make them again. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
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Chip
Good morning Joy. Grating the frozen butter was a great hack. Thanks. I am planning for Summer Company Chaos. Could the dough be refrigerated overnight and perhaps adding 3-5 minutes to the cook time? Could the dough be frozen until placed in a refrigerator to thaw 24 to 36 hours ahead of baking? Thanks so much.
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Joyce
Is it possible to substitute peaches for the apricots?
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Abby Mallett
Hey there! As long as the peaches were dried, it would work. Fresh or frozen peaches would give off a bit too much liquid! Happy baking, xo
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Mary Hatch
A great flavor combination. We love apricots and ginger and these scones were scrumptious. I baked them in my King Arther scone pan and brushed them with cream and sprinkled them with turbinado sugar for a little extra crunch. Thank you for another scone recipe to add to my collection.
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Rachel
A lovely scone variation here. Good texture. I found candied ginger at Trader Joe’s if you’re looking for that ingredient. I made to smaller discs so I could have more but smaller scones and it worked great. Enjoyed this recipe.
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Tahlia
Apologies- I’m not a very experienced baker so I’m a little unsure when do you add in the apricot and ginger? This step looks to be missing from the recipe.
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Katt
Oh yum!
I love nostalgic baking. The first coffee shop I worked at had a berry bran muffin that I absolutely adored and I’m still mad at myself for not snagging the recipe before I left (14 years ago!). I did get the granola recipe though, which is another nostalgic food I love. Something pretty magical about being transported back to a previous version of myself and granting that version a little more grace and love than I was able to at the time.
I can’t wait to see what you decide the first bake at the new Bakehouse is! (I hope it’s something magical, just for you to enjoy. Heck, I hope you don’t even tell us about it! It’s nice to have things for ourselves, especially I’m sure if you’re someone who has shared so much of your self and time in the kitchen over the years, like you have. <3)
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Tahlia
Sorry! Me again – back with another question! The post mentions vanilla but I don’t see this ingredient or step in the recipe either. Is this bit possibly missing too?
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Morag Miller
I love making scones and can’t wait to try this variation. I’m not sure if you can get white lily flour in Texas but it is made from softer wheat and has a protein of 9. Perfect for biscuits and scones.
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Morag
I made two batches this week and they were light, and buttery with a subtle ginger, mango flavor. I mixed them and formed the scones then covered them with cling wrap and refrigerated them overnight. In the morning I brushed them with cream and sugar and then baked.
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Deb
I have a bag of unopened pastry flour that I’ve been trying to use forever (poor substitute for bobs red mill cake flour, which I’m still mad about them discontinuing). Can I use the same amount here instead of the all purpise+cornstarch?
Also, how do you dice apricots successfully? I bought some diced already, but am reluctant to use them because they are so expensive.
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Rachel
I cut mine with a large chef’s knife and it worked well.
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MaggieToo
I too bonded with an apricot scone in California, so I’m making these immediately. The ginger sounds like a brilliant addition.
The cornstarch + AP is a decent pastry flour sub, but you know what’s even better and available to us lucky southerners? White Lily flour. Just as its low protein content makes perfect biscuits, it does the same for scones . (The non-self-rising flour, of course.)
I wonder why White Lily doesn’t go national? Every baker I know adores it.
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Ramona Puckett
Thank you! Just yesterday I was thinking about scones and needed to make some. These sound delicious ??
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