I have a hidden sweet tooth, but a very discerning one. I am not one for eating just anything sweet, instead opting for indulging in pastries that are simple, yet divine. Enter the scone here - I could have lived a past life in Britain, because I simply adore scones, the richer and flakier the better. My favourite ones are currant scones, but these sweet potato ones are a very close second.
Sweet potatoes are part of my Mexican heritage, and are one of the native ingredients of my country. The orange golden spuds feature prominently in Mexican cooking and are very often used to make sweet custards or desserts. There’s nothing better than a roasted sweet potato simply served drizzled with crema and garnished with chopped pecans (look for that recipe here in the blog), or a puree mixed in with eggs and baked into a delicious custard. Another favourite is a candied sweet potato called “fruta cristalizada” famous all over Mexico. So for me, it’s not a stretch to want to include sweet potatoes in a pastry that I love so much. So here it is worked into a rich, beautifully coloured scone.
In the Southern United States you will often find sweet potato biscuits - those are the cousins of the scones. I prefer a tall, flaky pastry and for this we need to have a dough that’s a bit firmer and handled as little as possible so the butter does not have a chance to soften - that will help it with the flakiness. If you don’t happen to have buttermilk on hand, you can use whipping cream instead. My mashed sweet potatoes were very firm, so if yours are moist, you may have to reduce the amount of liquid by 1 or 2 tablespoons, the clue is not to have a sticky dough. As we shape the scones, we also need to cut the dough straight down so that the scones can bake tall and straight (I use a pastry cutter for this, but a chef’s knife works just fine), and for best results, the dough must be fridge cold (or even frozen) before it goes into the oven.
Biscuits often bake at a higher temperature for a shorter time, but I like to bake my scones at 375°F for a bit longer so they have time to cook on the inside as they brown beautifully on the outside. Serve scones warm, slathered with butter and your favourite jam - I love apricot preserves.
You can double the recipe and freeze unbaked scones, or you can bake and freeze baked scones. Either way, you won’t regret having them on hand for your next afternoon tea or decadent breakfast.
Sweet Potato Scones
2 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (300g)
1/3 cup granulated sugar (66g)
3/4 Tbsp baking powder (9g)
1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (1.5g) (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
1/4 tsp ground Mexican canela or freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits (170g)
1/2 cup cold mashed roasted sweet potato (105g)
1/2 cup buttermilk (125ml)
1/4 cup whipping cream (63ml) + 2 Tbsp for brushing scones
1-2 Tbsp coarse sugar for garnish
Optional add-ins: zest of one lemon, candied ginger, pumpkin seeds (they look great as a garnish)
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In food processor, place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and canela or nutmeg. Add cold butter and pulse a few times, until you have small pea sized butter pieces. If you’re adding lemon zest or candied ginger, add them at this point.
Mix buttermilk and cream and add to mixture in food processor. Pulse a few times until mixture comes together in processor bowl.
Turn out dough onto your board and knead gently a few times, just until it comes together, but do not overwork the dough, and most importantly, don’t let the dough get too warm. Press the dough into a circle that’s 1 1/2” thick and cut with a knife or pastry cutter into 8 wedges.
Place dough wedges on parchment-covered baking tray and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before baking. (You can also freeze dough and then bake from frozen).
Before baking, brush wedges with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place in hot oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. If you’re baking from frozen, bake for 32-36 minutes, until golden brown.
Cool baked scones on rack and serve with your favourite jam.
Makes 8 scones.