Caramel Pear Scones

Not doing so great. Visited the dr this morning to change my blood pressure medication - I'm having a minor allergic reaction to it and my blood pressure refuses to stablize. Dr wants me to go on a more extreme diet than I am currently doing because I'm not losing weight. I haven't been that good with looking at my diet as a tool for weight loss lately because I wanted to focus on it being healthy and I can only focus on so much at a time. She's also very disapproving of my using MSG instead of salt. She doesn't want me to use either. GRR - it's tough when you get older and you start developing health conditions that refuse to go away. So I'll take the weight loss more seriously especially since we are finally getting signs of spring.
Of course, this all leads me to guilt over pizza last night at my dad's. He likes to have us over and this time he wanted to pick up some Little Caesar's pizza.
I made these scones on Sunday. We vacuum sealed some and put them in the freezer. We're trying to experiment with preservation so I can do big baking on the weekend and stretch it out over a period of time without it rotting.
These scones are amazing. I subbed out the all-purpose flour for about a half n half mixture of oat flour and whole white wheat. I used applesauce instead of the butter but kept the 1/3 cup of sugar - mixing white sugar with molasses. I might try these with just molasses next time because they are really sweet. I had some leftover butterscotch sauce from my mom and opted to use that instead of making caramel sauce. The flavor is amazing and the sauce adds a sealing coat to the scones keeping them super moist. It's not really scones because I associate a more dry quality with them but these are amazing. The chopped pears create little wet pockets that are wonderful. However, do not leave these on your counter while you finish them up - the moisture leads to quick souring. I've been grateful we got them into the fridge with some in the freezer.
*Note - mine had no nuts, ran out of walnuts at some point and forgot to add them to the list. And I didn't peel the pears.

Caramel-Pear Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut up
2 to 3 pears (1 lb.), peeled, chopped (1/2 inch) (about 2 1/3 cups)
1 egg
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk, divided
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 425ºF. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in 6 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles large peas. Stir in pears. Beat egg and 1/2 cup of the milk in small bowl; stir into flour mixture until moistened. (Mixture should form soft ball. If too wet, add 2 to 3 tablespoons flour. If too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.) On lightly floured surface, roll or press dough into 11-inch round 3/4 inch thick; cut into 8 wedges. Carefully lift wedges out with floured spatula; place on baking sheet. Brush with remaining 1 tablespoon milk; sprinkle with walnuts. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Cool. Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is melted. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk; return to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. Drizzle over scones.

Toffee-Pear Sticky Pudding

Yesterday we ate Caramel Pear Scones for breakfast (recipe coming soon) and leftover Sunday dinner for lunch. For dinner, my husband fried some tofu - sliced thin and fried in hot oil. He, then, made a stirfry of carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage and served it over brown rice. I made up a quick sweet and sour sauce (1/2 vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 catsup, 1/2 cup water with 2 TB cornstarch, cook until thick while whisking to prevent lumps). It was rather tasty and made enough for lunch today.
I made the Toffee-Pear Sticky Pudding on Sunday. It is a gooey sticky mess that lives up to it's name but it so tasty that you don't mind licking your fingers clean. This is not a finger food, however.
I did forget to add the baking soda but it didn't seem to damage the final dish. It might have been lighter than the dense goo I got but I don't really care. I know a gooey dish might not sound appealing but think of it as a sweet sticky caramel - it's a lot like that. I used slightly more dates since my package was about 1 1/2 cups and I didn't feel like having to return it to the cupboard. I used basic chopped dates from Walmart. I never peel my pears either which works for this because they were so soft that the peel gave them some structure. Also since I have stopped buying brown sugar - I use white sugar with molasses (which is basically brown sugar). I like the molasses flavor and think it really added a richness to this dish. For the sauce I used 1 cup chopped pears and whole milk instead of cream.
Oh and as I re-read this I realize that I stopped reading the instructions too early. I didn't prick the pudding nor did I return it to the oven to bake in the topping. (opps!)
I did change the method for the sauce - I melted the 1/2 cup butter (nucoa in our case), added my chopped pears and stirred for a moment before continuing on with the sauce recipe. My pears were not pretty enough to make them more garnish-like so I just dumped them in. I did follow the rest of the instructions.

Toffee-Pear Sticky Pudding
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups pitted whole dates, preferably Medjool dates
1 cup chopped peeled fresh pears
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 recipe Toffee-Pear Sauce
In a large saucepan combine the water, dates, and pears. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, covered, about 15 minutes or until fruit is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Mash with a potato masher, fork, or immersion blender until as smooth as possible. Stir in baking soda; set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and nutmeg; set aside. In a large bowl combine brown sugar and butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Stir in date-pear mixture. Stir in flour mixture just until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack. Immediately use a long skewer to prick top of cake all over. Spoon the portion of Toffee-Pear Sauce without pears over cake. Bake for 3 minutes more. Cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm with the portion of Toffee-Pear Sauce with pears.

Toffee-Pear Sauce
1 fresh pear
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Peel and core pear; thinly slice pear. In a medium skillet melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add pear slices; cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, turning pear slices occasionally and reducing heat to low if pear browns too quickly. Set aside. In a small saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully stir in whipping cream. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Divide sauce in half. Stir pear slices into one portion.

Microwave Caramel

I can't remember where I found this recipe but I couldn't wait to try it. The flavor of this caramel is wonderful but I just couldn't get it to firm up in the microwave. I ended up taking the two batches I attempted and putting them in a pot on the stove until they firmed up. The result was amazing caramels and I had used the homemade sweetened condensed milk.
I do think this would make amazing (but soft) caramel corn. Which would be perfect for a quick evening snack. I didn't add anything to the recipe after I took it out of the microwave.
*make sure your microwave is really clean - this does bubble over and if it lands on a clean surface you can scoop it back into the batch.


7 Minute Microwave Caramels or Caramel Corn
Yield: About 50 individually wrapped caramels, or 15 cups of caramel corn
Make the Caramel:
Note: If making individual caramels, have an 8x8 dish lined with parchment paper at the ready. If making caramel corn, prepare 12-15 cups of popped kettle corn and place in a large bowl. (1 1/2 standard size bags of microwave popcorn popped equals about 12 cups. This is the amount I used.)
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup light brown sugar, tightly paked
1/2 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (not low fat)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
In a large microwaveable bowl or 8 cup glass measure, combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Microwave at 100% power for 2 minutes. Stir mixture well. It will be a little grainy. Microwave for another 2 minutes and stir well. Add 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk. Microwave for 3 minutes. Watch carefully, it is prone to bubble up at this stage. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla extract. Be very careful at this stage, the caramel is extremely hot and sticky!

For Individual Caramels:
Sea salt for sprinkling
Pour hot caramel into the parchment lined pan. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Let stand until set, but still slightly warm. Lift caramel block from pan and cut into individual squares. Wrap in wax paper squares.*Note: My caramels held their shape quite well without being wrapped.

For Caramel Corn:
1 cup peanuts or cashews
Sea salt for sprinkling
Pour nuts over popped kettle corn. Pour hot caramel over popcorn, turning popcorn over with a large wooden spoon to coat. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Microwave caramel coated corn for 4 minutes, stopping after each minute to stir. Pour onto prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Let stand at room temperature until hardened. Break into pieces and store in an air-tight container.

Catching Up and Caramels

I wasn't feeling all that well last week but I did manage to get one more weekend of foraging two weekends ago. All those apples and pears and elderberries need to be used up so I'll be posting recipes soon. We had a day of candy making and I'll have some fun ideas on that too. I love this time of year because baking ingredients go on sale and we take every opportunity to share food with friends and family.
I'm still struggling with the end of this bug but I wanted to share Mary Jane's Caramel recipe. I made this nucoa and half and half.
In the pan it was gritty and I wasn't sure how it would come out but it finished beautifully. The trick is to not skimp on the time you cook the caramels. Make sure you get them hot enough before taking them off the stove.