I came across this Better Homes and Gardens recipe quite by mistake. I was looking for something else, but then "pumpkin scones" jumped off the page at me. Since I had all the ingredients except the chilli oil, I decided to give it a whirl. I ransacked my kitchen for something that might work instead, and settled on using peanut oil and a pinch of cayenne instead.
This is a pretty eccentric scone recipe. I consider myself quite a scone connoisseur, so it seemed strange not to have to rub cold butter into the flour with a pastry blender. And there was an egg! And pureed pumpkin! Strange!
The finished product tasted pretty good, but a little heavy on the baking powder. This is probably my fault, though, because I couldn't get my favorite baking powder--Rumford's no-aluminum one--the last time I was at the supermarket. I swear, it makes a difference. Baking tastes so much better without that nasty metallic undertone. I can't believe I never found out about this stuff until maybe a year ago. My entire life, I'd though baking powder inevitably tasted nasty, but my dears, it is not true!
Pumpkin seems like a tricky product to me. There's a reason people always put masses of spices in it, and that's because it tastes simultaneously bland and odd. I can't explain it. Next time I make these scones (I think I probably will), I'll put twice the amount of cayenne in them if I still don't have chilli oil, and at least twice the amount of Parmesan. I might go even further and add a handful of grated sharp cheddar to improve the flavor and texture.
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