No bread is an island

...entire of itself. (With apologies to John Donne!)
I live and breathe breadmaking. I’m an evangelist who would like everyone to make his or her own bread. I want to demystify breadmaking and show it as the easy everyday craft that it is. To this end I endeavour to make my recipes as simple and as foolproof as I possibly can.

I call my blog 'No bread is an island' because every bread is connected to another bread. So a spicy fruit bun with a cross on top is a hot cross bun. This fruit dough will also make a fruit loaf - or Chelsea buns or a Swedish tea ring...
I'm also a vegan, so I have lots of vegan recipes on here - and I'm adding more all the time.

Monday 24 December 2012

GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN SCONES

First of all, let me pay tribute to The wicked, good vegan whose recipe I followed - albeit with a few tweaks!

Sunday 23rd December
Had another go at GF scones today (pics to come) - but didn't have all the ingredients. So I tweaked the September recipe:

50ml soya cream + 50ml water (to approximate dairy-free milk)
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar*
180g gluten free flour (I used Wessex Gluten Free bread flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
40g sunflower oil
50g sugar

*Not sure about adding vinegar to soya to curdle it - it had no discernible effect on this occasion.

Method:
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add oil and milk mixture, mix into a dough, adding a little more flour or liquid if desired.

The rest is as per the recipe below.

Except that, using an unfamiliar oven, these were done (well done) after only ten minutes. They tasted fine, though, and the GF recipient was well pleased.

Next time I'll leave out the vinegar - and the salt; I see no need for either of these ingredients. I'll also just up the baking powder slightly and leave out the bicarb.


Tuesday 18th September Tip - before assembling your dry ingredients, make some vegan buttermilk by mixing the milk and vinegar in a bowl to curdle it. Doesn't take long.

Ingredients:
200ml dairy free milk
5ml white wine vinegar
360g gluten free flour (I used Wessex Gluten Free bread flour)
2 teaspoons GF baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
1 teaspoon salt
80g vegetable shortening (I used Pure)
100g sugar

Method:
Measure the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and rub the vegetable fat into the flour with your fingertips.

Add the 'buttermilk' and stir into a dough, adding a little more flour or liquid if desired.



Form the dough into a round and press it out into a circle about 2cm thick.




 Use a 5cm cutter to cut out the rounds and place them on your prepared baking tray, using up all the scraps.



Brush with soya milk (which I forgot to do) and place in the oven at 220C for about 20 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack.


I used half the ingredients - the recipe above will make 11 or 12 scones.
Slice them in half, horizontally,



And admire the crumb!

I had no cream, but I cut one of the pieces in half - covered one with Flora and jam for my wife, and spread Pure and jam on the other half. My wife thought they were delicious (and she's a harsh critic, at times!) and asked for the other half of the scone.

Success! 

I, too, thought they were gorgeous!

When they've cooled I shall freeze them (GF products should be kept in the freezer, IME). 15-20 seconds in the microwave will bring them back to life - these are always best eaten warm.


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