Fruit Scones

As Sous Chef J has been feeling under the weather recently, we have been trying to find food that tempts his tastebuds.  It seems that fruit scones with jam tend to do this... so a recipe was sought.

Having memories of baking fruit scones with my Nana, I remembered she'd add to the mix enough buttermilk to make a dough (this was never an exact amount as depended on the size/freshness of the egg and also the flour).  Needless to say, having a gluten free scone to produce, we needed some guidance with our measures.  So, armed with Phil Vickery's Gluten-Free Cooking book (which we use for plain scones - blogged here), we adapted his recipe.  So, our scone mix ingredients are:-

300g plain flour (we use Dove's Farm)
100g unsalted butter, cubed
1 Tablespoon caster sugar
4 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
2 teaspoons xantham gum
2 medium eggs, beaten
about 125ml natural yogurt
pinch of salt
Large handful of sultanas

Sous Chef J was at golf whilst the baking took place so I was supposed to be taking the photos.  Apologies, but I forgot... until the dough was made!

The dry ingredients were mixed together well, the butter was added and rubbed together (using just one hand) until they looked like fine breadcrumbs.  Then the wet ingredients were added, not all at once, to the middle.  A table knife was used to combine the wet and dry together until they started to form a dough.  Then the dough was thoroughly combined by hand.  Today, not all the wet ingredients were needed, but you do have to do this 'by eye' or feel.  When it was like this, it was placed on a floured board and the handful of sultanas were added and folded in.

Once the dough was lightly rolled to a thickness of about 2cm (1 inch), a 6cm cutter was used.  The scones were placed on a non-stick baking sheet and brushed with beaten egg.  They were then baked in a 200ºC (fan) oven for 12-15minutes (this depends on their size).  Once browned on top, they were cooled for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before being transferred to a cooling rack.  This amount of dough made 6x 6cm scones and 3x 5cm scones...

They are delicious eaten, still warm, with butter and jam.   The scones freeze well (if they last that long) and we halve and butter them prior to freezing.

Gluten Free Berry Almond Slice

This is a recipe from an autumn edition of Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine that we have made a few changes to in order to make it both Gluten Free and also bakeable at any time of the year.  Here's a link to their website recipe and you will see, if you look, that we've removed the need for pastry and also use raspberries (in this case fresh ones but, at other times, we do use frozen fruit).

 

So the ingredients were gathered by Sous Chef J using the crumpled bit of paper I tore out of a Waitrose magazine some time ago.  We don't use the pastry or jam, though.  Our ingredients looked like this...

Sous Chef J in action!

Having preheated the oven to 170ºC, the softened butter and sugar were combined using a hand mixer until they looked light and creamy.  Sous Chef J actually did quite a lot of this (for a change) but would rather have a yellow stand mixer to be in control of... but he's going to have to wait a while for one of those!

Folding in ground almonds

Adding vanilla essence

Next, the vanilla essence was added.  The lightly beaten eggs were then incorporated, a little at a time.  Then the ground almonds were folded into the mix.

Spreading the mix

The berries are added

This slightly firm mixture was then spread, evenly, into a non-stick baking tin (ours is 19cm x 28cm) before having raspberries placed on top.  It was then placed into the warm oven.

 

 

After 10 minutes in oven

Sprinkled with flaked almonds

Having cooked for 10 minutes, the tray was removed and the sliced almonds were sprinkled over.  The cake was then returned to the oven for another 10 minutes to finish baking. 

We allowed the cake to cook in the tray for 15 minutes and then turned it out... the underside looked like this before we 'flipped' it back the right way up!

 As you can see, it was another successful baking session.  The slice freezes well - we freeze it in portions suitable for 3.  It can be served with a cup of tea as an afternoon treat or with creme fraiche as an easy pudding. 

Give it a go... it's a tasty treat and Gluten eaters also love it so it's a good offering to take to pals if you're going to be eating out.  I know it's puds and snacks that my pals struggle with when we visit - they can manage meat and veg without gluten but mention 'afters' and even the most hardy usually blanche at the prospect!