Makes 12 scones
Preheat oven to 350 F
3 ½ cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ cup sugar
½ tsp ground nutmeg
8 oz cold butter, diced
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato or yam
To cook: peel and dice a large sweet potato, cook it in water at a high simmer until fork tender, about ten minutes. Drain and mash. An alternate method is to microwave your sweet potato for about 6 minutes, discard the peel, and mash.
½ cup heavy cream
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped, reserve a few extra for garnishing
For the icing:
½ cup maple syrup
Powdered sugar
In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and nutmeg. Toss the butter cubes in the flour mixture. In a food processor, pulse the flour-butter together until the butter is incorporated. If you don’t have a food processor, you can definitely blend the butter in by hand using a pastry cutter. Place the flour mixture back into the bowl. Add the pecans.
In a separate bowl combine the sweet potato, heavy cream, eggs and vanilla. Mix together well.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together until everything is mostly incorporated but the dough is still loose and a little shaggy. With floured hands, gather the dough together and gently press it together until it forms a smooth ball. Cut the ball in half, form the dough into two discs and flatten them down gently.
Using a rolling pin, roll the discs out into about 8 inch circles. Cut each circle into six scones, the same way you would slice a pizza.
On a parchment-lined cookie sheet, bake the scones for about 10 minutes, turn your cookie sheet once, and bake for another 7-10 minutes.
To make the icing, mix enough confectioner’s sugar into the maple syrup to thicken it. Start with half a cup of sugar and then add a little more at a time until you reach a thickness that you prefer.
Allow to cool and then ice the scones, sprinkling the tops with the pecans you saved for garnishing as you go.