New Design amid Pears, Pears & More Pears!

It has been longer than I like between posts, but I gave myself a bit of a break after the marathon session of stitching Seville for Just Cross Stitch magazine.  It is also a busy time on Gracewood since the buckets of pears we harvested (one Taylor's Gold Comice tree and one Conference tree) have been in cold storage for a month and we can bring them out a batch at a time to ripen and do something with.  A break was also needed after tubs of oven baked apple butter we made.

In the midst of it all I just had to sit down and bring a design to fruition that just wouldn't let me alone till it came out :)  After the 'Twilight' ornament for the magazine I have had one rolling around my brain that would reflect my other favorite time of day, so here is 'Daybreak'.

Daybreak

On cold frosty mornings it is especially rewarding to be up early to see the sky just before the sun appears on the horizon.  Suffused in shades of pearly grey, lavender and mauvey pinks and looking at it through frosted windows gives an impression of a fragile beauty that will soon disappear.  I hope you like it. 

I haven't finished stitching Violette but hope to complete it soon and begin stitching Daybreak.  It will be smaller than some I've done lately, about 8 1/2" x 8 1/2".

Back to recent activities, I LOVE pears and I don't think there is much you can do with them I wouldn't like so we've done everything from making pear vinegar, pickled pears, and all kinds of recipes from pear pudding and deep dish pies to something completely wonderful and decadent, Roasted Pear & Chocolate Scones!  Recipe below!

Here are a few photos of some of the pear activity -


Half gallon jars of pear vinegar

 

Pickled Pears

 

The Roasted Pear & Chocolate Scone recipe is from smittenkitchen.com though I found their recipe might be incorrect in the amount of flour used.  It calls for 1 1/2 cup, but I had to add so much flour to the board to shape them I'll make it 2 1/2 cups for the initial recipe next time - which will probably be made tomorrow since they are so great and freeze so well.

The photo is also from smittenkitchen since they went so fast here I didn't even get a photo of them, but they looked exactly like this -



Roasted Pear & Chocolate Chunk Scones

 

Roasted Pear and Chocolate Chunk Scones

Makes 6 generous scones; you can absolutely make these a bit smaller and reduce their baking time accordingly

3 firmish pears (about 1 pound or 455 grams)
2 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated or coarse for sprinkling
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) table salt plus additional for egg wash
6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy cream
1/4 cup (3 ounces or 85 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)
2 large eggs, 1 for dough, 1 for glaze

Heat oven to 375°F. Peel and core pears. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange pear chunks on parchment and roast until they feel dry to the touch and look a little browned underneath, about 20 minutes. Slide parchment paper with pear chunks onto a cooling rack (or onto a plate in the fridge or freezer to speed this up) and cool to lukewarm. Leave oven on. Line baking sheet with another piece of parchment.

Whisk flour, baking powder, 1/4 cup sugar and salt together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Toss in cooled pear chunks, bits of butter, heavy cream and 1 egg. With the paddle attachment, mix the dough on low speed until it just comes together. Don’t overmix. Add the chocolate chunks and mix for 5 seconds more.

On a very well floured counter, pat out dough into a 6-inch round. Cut into 6 generous wedges and transfer to baking sheet at least two inches apart (do as I say, not as I did here!). Whisk remaining egg in a small dish with 1 teaspoon of water and a pinch of salt. Brush each scone with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Bake scones until firm and golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve, and pat yourself on the back for your excellent host skills.

 

Waiting for a pear!