Pear Chai-Spiced Scones submitted by Mom Johnson
Description
These were a wonderful Fall treat, a reward after harvesting all the fruit from the orchard!

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray an 8-inch round cake pan with baking spray with flour. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
For scones: In a work bowl of a food processor, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and pepper. Pulse until combined. Add cold butter and pulse until mixture is crumbly.
Transfer dough to a large bowl and fold in the pears and 1 cup cream, stirring until combined. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, just until the dough comes together. Press dough into the prepared cake pan. Turn the dough out and using a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and remaining 1 tsp. cream. Brush tops of scones with the egg wash and bake until golden brown, about 12-16 minutes.
For the spiced pear syrup: In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, 1/4 cup water, pear, cinnamon stick and star anise to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding the solids. (I pressed the pear solids through the sieve for more flavor.)
For pear glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and the spiced pear syrup until smooth. Drizzle over warm scones.




Ingredients
v 2 cups all-purpose flour
v 1/4 cup granulated sugar
v 1T. baking powder
v 2 tsp. salt
v 1 tsp. cinnamon
v 1 tsp. ginger
v 1/2 tsp. grated fresh nutmeg
v 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
v 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
v 5 T. cold butter, cubed
v 2 small pears, cored and chopped
v 1 cup plus 1 tsp. heavy whipping cream, divided
v 1 large egg
v Spiced Pear Syrup:
v 1/4 cup sugar
v 1 pear, sliced
v 1 cinnamon stick
v 1 star anise
v Pear glaze:
v 1/2 cup powdered sugar
v 2 T. spiced pear syrup