'Tis the season of the pumpkin. As a vegetable by itself I'm not a huge fan. But add some ginger and spice and everything nice and voila you are in for a treat! These muffins came about the other day when I was making pumpkin risotto (another delicious pumpkin dish - stay tuned for the recipe) and had some leftover pumpkin. I was thinking to make some pumpkin bread or muffins when I remembered that I still have about a KG of candied ginger to use up. To help me along with some ideas of how these two ingredients might come together I scoured the internet for similar recipes and came across a tasty one that included Molasses and a Molasses Glaze. This recipe originally came from Bon Apetit and was posted by The Amateur Gourmet.

As usual I didn't follow the recipe as written: first I didn't use molasses (I didn't have any light molasses and figured the dark would be too overpowering, so instead I used honey), I added cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and finally I doubled the amount of candied (or crystallized) ginger.

These muffins were a big hit and are tasty both with or without the glaze. The recipe says it makes 6 jumbo or 18 regular muffins, however after filling my 6 jumbo tins I still had enough mix leftover to make 4 regular muffins.

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
15 ounces pumpkin puree
1/2 cup honey (or light molasses)
1/2 cup buttermilk (see substituion tip if you don't have any)
1 cup candied ginger, chopped small

Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp honey (or light molasses)
water

Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 6-8 giant muffin cups or 18 standard cups with nonstick spray.

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl beat together the sugar and oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat or stir (beating might be too splashy) in the pumpkin, honey, and buttermilk. Stir in the candied ginger.

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir until just blended.

Divide batter among the prepared muffin cups.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the the center comes out clean (about 30-40 minutes depending on muffin cup size).

Transfer to a rack and cool completely.

For the glaze whisk together the sugar, honey and 2 Tablespoons of water. Continue to whisk in a little bit of water at a time until a thick glaze forms. Dip the muffins (top only) into the glaze then transfer to the rack; allowing the glaze to drop down the sides. If desired you can sprinkle the tops with additional candied ginger. Let stand until glaze is set, about 1 hour.

Buttermilk Substitution
If you don't have buttermilk, or buttermilk powder try this: mix about 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice, white vinegar, or cider vinegar plus enough milk to make 1/2 cup. Let it stand 5-10 minutes before using.

Continue reading "Pumpkin and Ginger Muffins" and recipe ...

There must be some psychological term for the behavior that overtakes most cruisers when provisioning (fancy word for grocery shopping). I think I become just a little crazy. It is, after all, a somewhat mind boggling game. Where will I next find a grocery store? When? What will they have? Can I really live without Skippy Creamy peanut butter? What will happen to our relationship if we run out of chocolate? And so forth.

See food, especially for me, isn't purely about surviving, it's about enjoyment, creativity, luxury, and sometimes comfort. At sea, cruising, there is very little that I or my partner can actually control. We can do our best to prepare, but in the end we have to "go with the flow"; mother nature after all is not one to take orders. So what am I left with? Food. I can supply my yacht with the best of things and prepare superb dishes, even when truly in the middle of nowhere. I refuse to resort to canned soup and dehydrated vegetables.

But in order to have this power I must stock-up, and I admit, I go just a bit overboard. There I am in the last major grocery store I know I will see in at least three months, and my mind starts racing. I think surely two jars of Skippy will be enough, but then my mind wonders and I picture the day I'm craving peanut butter only to find we've run out. So I get four. To make matters worse, Chris and I hoard; saving those special foods for "special occasions" because we fear over indulging and the dreadful running out! It is this thought process that has left me with 2kgs of "left-over" candied ginger - purchased way back in Australia about a year ago. Luckily I've got a vacuum sealer and good storage techniques, but still it is time for the ginger to go.

And so I thank my soon-to-be mother-in-law for her Ginger Scone recipe - one of Chris' favorite breakfast treats. The other morning Chris says to me, "you know what would be good?" "Hmmm?" I ask. "Ginger Scones" he replies with this huge smile. I kindly asked him who was going to make them to which he smiled and said, "think of the photos you could take". So I kill four birds with one stone; I get a delicious breakfast, Chris is thrilled, I get something tasty for the blog, and finally, I use up some of the candied ginger that I've been hoarding for the last year!

Ginger Scones 1 3/4 cup flour 2 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 T sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup butter 1/2 bag candied ginger pieces, cut into small pieces* 2 eggs 1/3 cup cream juice from 1/2 lemon Preheat the oven to 450 F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two forks. Stir in the candied ginger. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, cream and lemon juice; add to the flour mixture. Stir until well mixed. Turn out onto a buttered cookie sheet, and shape (with hands) into a circle. Score the top for 6 pie shaped pieces. Bake about 15 minutes (should brown lightly - keep an eye on them to ensure you don't burn the bottoms). Let stand a few minutes then cut (using scores) and serve warm. Makes 6 scones. I've kept them up to a week in the refrigerator, but they are best when hot and fresh. *Half a bag of ginger will obviously depend on how big your bag of ginger is - I was never given a bag size or amount, but I use roughly 1 to 1 1/2 cups. I cut my pieces quite small because while I love the taste of ginger, I don't like any one bite to be to overwhelming. You can adjust the amount of ginger used based on your own preferences.

Enjoy!
Continue reading "Ginger Scones" and recipe ...