a delightful threesome

Perhaps my favorite flavor combination is dark chocolate, ginger, and walnut. My friend Crystal turned me on to this threesome and it has been my go-to ever since. When I have an unidentifiable craving or want something sweet after dinner I can always count on this to satisfy: I just take one small square of very dark chocolate, one walnut half and a cube of crystallized ginger, and pop it all in my mouth. The flavors collide and then blend into one another. The walnut balances the spiciness of the ginger, the bitterness of the chocolate counteracts the ginger's sweetness, and the combination of chewy, crunchy, and smooth textures are pure bliss. I have a container that used to hold three varieties of tea leaves and now I use it to keep these three easily at hand. Unfortunately, I'm almost out of my stash of crystallized ginger. All I seem to be able to find around here is coated in sugar and it's a bit too much for me. When I was in Berlin I found the perfect crystallized ginger (sans all the extra sugar) at the neighborhood farmer's market and bought two kilograms of it.

A while back I saw this recipe for ginger jam and thought I would give it a try. It was my first time to make any sort of jam or marmalade, and it was definitely worth the effort. Last week at a picnic we enjoyed it on everything from bread and goat cheese, to a wrap with herby hummus and fresh sprouts, to chocolate walnut scones. I am pretty excited to share the recipe for these scones with you. I've been wanting to try coming up with my own scones for a while now, and I will definitely continue exploring this cookie.


I fell in love with scones in Paris at a bakery called Bread and Roses. In the one short week I spent in Paris last summer with my husband and mother-in-law, I really learned how to enjoy foods that prior to that time seemed overly-indulgent. Like putting butter on bread or eating a small scoop of gelato every day. This bakery is so beautiful and everything we tasted was delicious. I wanted to taste everything! One morning my husband and I went for breakfast and had cappuccinos and scones, served with jam, freshly-whipped cream, and fresh butter. It was heavenly.

Since then I have been baking scones from time-to-time, perhaps just to let myself reminisce. My favorite recipes have come from Orangette - she has several that are absolutely fantastic. All these things added up: my favorite trio of flavors, my homemade ginger jam, my love of scones, and I decided it was time to try my hand at a my own recipe. Because I knew I would be eating these with the jam and whipped cream, I wanted something hearty and not too sweet, so I used whole wheat flour and a pretty small amount of sugar. Maybe you could change that up a bit if you want a scone that is sufficient in itself.

Chocolate Walnut Scone Recipe:
1 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 egg
seeds from one vanilla bean or 2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl combine flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt with a fork until everything is very well blended (or sift).
Work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands so that there are no large chunks and it is the texture of a moist, grainy sand.
Stir in the sugar.
In a small bowl beat the vanilla, cream and egg together with fork.
Pour the moist ingredients into the dry and stir to just barely incorporate.
Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts, being careful not to over-handle.
Form the dough into a rough ball with your hands. Place it on a floured surface, flatten to about one inch, and cut into 8 triangles.
Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 16 minutes.