A Warm Pumpkin Scone for a Winter’s Afternoon
A warm scone is an object of extraordinary comfort, but even more so when it has potato in it. The farl, a slim scone of flour, butter, and mashed potato, is rarely seen nowadays and somehow all the more of a treat when it is. I have taken the idea and run with it, mashing steamed pumpkin into the hand-worked crumbs of flour and butter to make a bread that glows orange when you break it. Soft, warm, and floury, this is more than welcome for a Sunday breakfast in winter or a tea round the kitchen table. Cooked initially in a frying pan and then finished in the oven, I love this with grilled Orkney bacon and slices of Cheddar sharp enough to make my lips smart—a fine contrast for the sweet, floury “scone” and its squishy center.
Recipe information
Yield
enough for 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Cut the pumpkin into large chunks and steam until tender enough to mash. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Step 2
Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small chunks and rub it in with your fingertips. You could do this in a food processor, but it hardly seems worth the washing up.
Step 3
Crush the pumpkin with a potato masher, then beat in the egg, followed by the milk and thyme leaves. Scoop this into the flour mixture and mix well. Season with black pepper.
Step 4
Warm a heavy, nonstick frying pan with a metal handle over low to medium heat. Melt a little oil or butter in it, then pile in the dough, and smooth it flat. Cook over low heat until the underside is pale gold.
Step 5
Lightly oil a dinner plate. Loosen the underside of the scone with the help of a spatula. Put the plate over the top of the pan, then, holding the plate in place, tip the pan so that the scone falls onto the plate. Slide the scone back into the frying pan and cook the other side for four or five minutes. Put the pan in the oven for seven minutes, or until the scone is lightly set in the middle.
Step 6
Turn the scone out of the pan and slice into thick wedges. Serve warm, with cheese or some grilled bacon.
