Lavender Lemonade Scones

Remember my stash of lavender goodies?

Proper culinary lavender in dried, oil and honey form. Yummo!

Lavender to me is sweet and wholesome, a bit old fashioned even. So what better match for it's subtle scent than scones?


Reminiscent of tea with Nanna, and a bit of a whiff of Nanna's scented hanky too. I figured a bit of nostalgia was perfect for this afternoon tea treat.

My favourite scones are simple- Lemonade, cream and gluten free flour. No mucking about, no rubbing in, just mix and cook, easy peasy.

The traditional butter is replaced with the fat in the cream, and the sugar is made up for by the lemonade with the bonus fizzy bubbles helping with lift and lightness.
The lavender is just for gratuituos yumminess. Don't worry if you don't have any, it's not at all necessary, sometimes I use ginger beer for a spicy change... but I would certainly draw the line at using cola, or other types of soft drink/soda.

For these scones, I'm going off my lovely BigSisters magic ratio

1kg gluten free Self Raising Flour
375ml can of Lemonade
600ml bottle of lactose free cream




To give my scones their Lavender kiss, I used 1 tablespoon of dried lavender flowers and 2 drops of culinary lavender oil. This is different from essential oil that might not be pure enough and might be mixed with a non-edible base oil. Please don't use any oils that are not specifically sold as culinary.

I halved the ingredients just to keep temptation in the form of too many goodies at bay. The amount of scones made really comes down to how large you cut them. I made mine quite small to nibble on, but sometimes a big fluffy cloud is just the right size for a hearty afternoon tea.

Preheat the oven to nice and hot, about 200*C
You want the scones to get a quick blast of heat to make them puff up quickly


Put the cream, oil and dried lavender in a saucepan and bring to the simmer. Turn off the heat, then allow to cool. The flavour from the flowers will infuse through the liquid flavouring it beautifully. I chose not to strain out the little buds as I think they're mild enough to chew, but you can if you like.

Instead of sifting the flour, I just whisk it about a bit to lighten it up and fluff it up.

To the flour, add the cream and lemonade. It will froth up quite a bit but don't worry.
Now somehow I've lost this photo, sorry guys!

Mix the liquids into the flour carefully, handling it as little as possible to keep light.
Pull it together and pat out evenly until it's just a few centimetres thick

Using a scone cutter or a straight sided glass, cut rounds out of the dough without twisting. This makes sure the scones rise evenly and straight. You might have to flour the cutter if the dough is sticky

Place the scones on an oven tray, either spaced out which will allow the edges to crisp up a bit, or tucked up together to keep them nice and soft
You can brush the tops of the scones with lactose free milk for a nice brown top if you like,

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the scones are lightly browned and sound hollow on the bottom when tapped

For soft scones cover them up with a clean cloth or tea towel, so as they cool down the steam they release is trapped inside. For crustier scones, let them cool down on a rack so the air circulates around them freely

If the scones are still warm, the best way to split them is to pull them apart gently so they stay nice and fluffy without compacting and making them dense

Slather on some lactose free spread/butter/ lavender honey, breath deeply to inhale the sweetness, and enjoy!



So Dear Readers, what scent makes you think of sweet old fashioned things, and perhaps your Nanna or Grandma?

As a lucky co-inky dink, Sweet Celia from Fig and Lime Cordial is hosting an International Scone Week. So here's the link and hopefully we can generate lots of buzz in the Blogisphere about these lovely baked goodies!
http://figjamandlimecordial.com/








.

Lavender Grey Churros

The other day at work I was faced with a bit of a problem. We had 150 booked in for an all day function with many dietary requirements to juggle. All was well until afternoon tea when.... my gluten free meals wnt missing!
I have no idea where they were- I hadn't eaten them! But I had 15 mins to come up with an alternative that was yummy, quick, and of course, gluten free. No ovens were on, there was only rice flour on hand.... I thought of churros.
With deep fryers on 12hours a day, that was one obstacle cleared, so I whipped up the batter, deep fried the little suckers, tossed them in some cinamon sugar, and volia! Sadly there was no chocolate sauce for dipping, just some cream, but at least it was better than a piece of fruit- the ultimate gfree standby in commercial kitchens.

Anyway, I knew I could gussy-up the basic recipe to make it much nicer, and with some minimal efforet came up with these Lavender Grey babies for you dining pleasure!

I believe I may have mentioned once or twice how much I love Dilmah Earl Grey Tea, it's sooooo lovely and just right for a pick me up any time of the day, so the starting point for my churros is a strong cup of tea. You could of course just use water, but why not use the best flavour at hand, and of course make an extra cup for sipping while you cook.



1 cup of strong Earl Grey Tea
2 cups of gfree flour
1/4 cup lavender sugar
1 tb butter or Nuttlex
3 eggs
Oil for deep frying
Lavender sugar for dusting

First of all, make you lavender sugar. You could use cinnamon sugar if you like, but lavender is just so much more lovely and goes so well with the tea that it's well worth while the effort.

Place the sugar and a couple of tablespoons of culinary lavender buds in the bowl of a food processor. I used Herbies lavender, but you could use some dried buds from the garden if you're sure they haven't been sprayed with chemicals or by a nieghbourhood doggie.
Whizz the sugar around until the lavender is chopped up and distributed evenly through the sugar. That's it, nice and easy.

Now onto the churros:


Put flour, sugar and butter in mixer bowl.

Pour in cup of tea, and mix well. The butter will melt.

Add in the eggs and keep mixing until a nice elastic batter comes together.

Put some batter into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle. Pipe directly (and carefully) into the hot oil. If you hold it close to the oil it won't splash up at you. The mixture is thick enough to pipe in slowly and not wet enough to spit excess moisture.

Cook until nice and golden brown, you'll have to turn them over half way through with tongs so both sides share the love. They'll puff up and get nice and fat, so don't crownd the pan or all the little churros will stick together into a blobby mass.

Toss the hot churros straight into the lavender sugar and make sure they're covered top to toe.

Serve straight away while the little lovelies are warm and crispy. Enjoy with another hot cup of Earl Grey Tea! Not that you need an excuse to sip on a nice cup of tea anytime.

In the spirit of full recipe disclosure, I have to admit that the full rice flour churros stayed crispy longer, but they weren't as fluffy inside. The gfree mix was softer but with more of a doughnut vibe. Next time I might try 1 1/2 cups mix and 1/2 cup rice flour just to see if I can get a longer lasting crunch.

So my Dear Readers, how do you like your nice hot cup of tea?