Royal Pear and Coriander Scones

Are you excited about the Royal Wedding?!?!I can’t particularly say I am.  Of course I do regress to my little nine year old self with the idea of tiaras and fancy dresses and a gal becoming a princess.  But that excitement quickly turns to nausea as Kate is continually snubbed for being a “commoner” and the haughty opinions of the aristocracy are tossed about.  I don’t believe in hierarchy between people, especially as we’re all thrust into a body somewhere on earth in a crazy lottery devised by that-I-know-not.

But I’m aware of this event through a grapevine situation – my roommate his hosting some friends to watch the wedding this weekend.   To neutralize the enjoyment factor between their differing desires to watch the wedding they’re making a drinking game of it – I think the repeated usage of the word “commoner” is a dangerous one to commit to drinking with in this case, but to each her own!

And, of course, any event makes me think about… food.

So today I found myself with a little time and a desire to make scones.

Pear and Coriander Scones

This batch came out much more moist than my normal recipe, for a very cake-like scone.  I prefer mine traditionally a bit drier and crumbly, but my roommate has mentioned several times how much she loves this batch, that they’re her favorite that I’ve made.  The moisture is due to my using tofu sour cream instead of almond milk and a bit more butter than normal.  If you want a traditionally drier scone, I’d try the flour mix I used in my Lemon Genmaicha scones and milk instead of cream. Or just cut back on the amount of sour cream a bit.  Adding some flax seeds will help with the crumbliness, as will substituting some of the flour with millet flour or even some almond flour! Yum!

Ingredients

• 1 pear, peeled, cored and chopped (I used a Bartlett)
• 2 cups of gluten-free flour (I used my cake flour mix.  If you use a preblended mix without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan gum)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed (or butter flavored Earth Balance to make dairy-free)
• 1/4 cup sweetener (I used sucanat)
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I used Tofutti “sour cream”)
• 1 tsp coriander

Directions

Pear and Coriander Scones

• Preheat your oven to 400°.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, soda, powder and salt.
• Cut in the butter with your fingers until grainy, like cornmeal.
• Add sugar and whisk in.
• Add pear and toss in.
• Make a well in the center and fill with 1 egg and sour cream.  Mix in with a fork until the dough comes together.
• Turn out onto a floured board and knead slightly until smooth.  Roll into a log and cut into 8 triangles and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Place the coriander between two pieces of wax paper and gently break with a rolling pin until crushed.  Try not to lose yourself in the gorgeous fragrance!
• Gently wash the tops of the scones with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with coriander.
• Bake for 16 minutes or until browned on top.

This recipe based one I stole from my dear friend Kevin.  Thanks, Kevin!  My love of baking scones is directly due to him!