Butternut Sage Scones

DIRECTIONS

ADAPTED FROM FOOD 52

The Butternut Squash can be Made a Day or Two in Advance

Prepare oven according to Mugnaini’s Baking Environment, 450 – 550˚F

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Rub with a bit of olive oil and place skin side up on a foil lined baking sheet then lightly cover with foil.

To roast in your Mugnaini, put them into the oven at a roasting environment (550 – 625˚F) and roast until a fork can easily pierce the inside (about an hour).

To cook in a conventional oven, set the temperature to 375˚F and roast until a fork can easily pierce the inside (about 1 – 1 1/2 hours).

Once out of the oven and completely cooled, scoop out the soft squash and mash it with a fork. From there, you can either drain the pulp for a few hours or overnight in a colander, or you can take a linen free towel or cheesecloth and squeeze the water out of the squash.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

To Make Scones

Note that when making scones, it is crucial to keep all your ingredients as cold as possible. To do this, we chill ingredients like the squash, cream, eggs and butter AND the cooking equipment. Sounds silly, we know. By freezing your mixing bowls ahead of time, this can help insure that the butter doesn’t melt and smear. You want to keep the chunks of cold butter in the dough so that the scones are flakey and light.

In a small bowl, mix the egg, squash and cream together then put into the fridge until needed.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade, pulse together the dry ingredients and the chopped sage.

Add the cubed butter and pulse about 10 times. You still want to see little pea sized cuts of butter in the mixture.

Transfer the mixture into your chilled bowl, then take out the squash mixture and pour it into the dry ingredients. Use a fork to start the mixing process, then start folding the dough onto itself using your hand until it is nicely mixed and has formed a ball. Make sure you work quickly so that your hands don’t warm the butter too much. If you feel that the dough has gotten too warm, put it into the freezer for a bit so the butter can cool down again.

Once the dough is ready, cut it in half and form 2 balls of dough. On a floured surface, gently pat each ball (you can do this one at a time) into a 6” diameter. Cut each dough into 6 triangles (8 if you want smaller scones). Line the scones on a parchment lined baking sheet and put the sheets in the freezer for about 30 minutes. If you have no room in the freezer, you can put them into the fridge for an hour.

Before putting the scones into the oven, brush with cream, then dip each sage leaf into the cream and lay on top of the scone. Sprinkle with sugar.

These scones will take about 15 – 20 minutes to bake, they are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Once out of the oven, put onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Optional Cinnamon Drizzle

In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar, cinnamon and water together with a fork until in has the consistency of corn syrup. You want it thin enough to drizzle over the scones but thick enough for the drizzle to hold its shape.

Drizzle over cooled scones using a fork, make sure they are not hot.

Note* These scones can be frozen for up to 3 weeks. To do so, put them into the freezer on a sheet tray and once they are solid, put them into an airtight bag. On the day of baking, follow the normal instructions to top with sage and cream, bake for about 30 minutes but start checking at 20 minutes.