Ginger scones

Normally I leave dessert-baking to my husband. He is yet to bake a cake that I haven't wanted to finish in 5 minutes flat. But when plans to grab a ginger scone at The Steeping Room were canceled in deference to MrM having to log on and work, my body revolted against the proposed loss of ginger. I pulled up a recipe from Epicurious, analyzed if I could make reasonable substitutions without (a) having to go shopping (2) ending up with gross scones, and the answer was a yes!

Changes made:
1) Cut all portions in half - made 10 scones.
2) No lemon zest available. Added 1/4 tsp of lemon oil. YUM!
3) Added 1/2 tsp of ginger powder and 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger to recipe
4) Replaced cream with whole milk since I didn't have any cream.

Despite all this the scones were delicious. The dough was more of a spooning consistency than a shape & cut thickness, but this didn't change anything for me.

The oddest thing was that MrM, who doesn't really care for ginger scones (and hence the change of plans was less brutal for him) really liked these scones. He said they reminded him of orange scones. I think that is a combination of the lemon oil plus the fact that my crystallized ginger did taste a little like candied orange peel after it was baked - a mild bitter sweet flavor.

In all, it didn't pack a ginger punch like the ones from The Steeping Room or the ones Renee makes (for those fortunate enough to eat her scones), but for ginger-neutral populations this might indeed be the perfect scone. :)