Scones

It is snowy here in Skipton and today we have bought the boys a sledge. Lachie rode it home from town with Robert pulling and Hamish went proper sledging after school in the park across from our house.
I have been thinking about scones ever since I saw Kirstie and Phil talking to some prospective house purchasers on Channel 4 last week. There on a little table in the foreground was a plate heaped with scones. Hmm, I wanted those scones! So scones have been on my mind and seemed like a good post-sledging tea. I made some gluten-free scones and some 'normal' scones and Robert thought the gluten-free ones looked much tastier, sort of golden. And they were indeed very tasty.

Scones (free from gluten, dairy and egg)

12oz gluten-free self-raising flour
4oz caster sugar
3oz dairy-free margarine
8floz soya milk

Mix together the flour and caster sugar. Rub in the margarine as though you were going to make pastry and then stir in the soya milk - add about 6floz at first and then add a bit more if you need it. I used about 8floz, but you might need more or less depending on your flour. Pat out the dough onto a floured surface to an inch thick and cut out 2 inch diameter circles. I managed 12 scones. Put the scones on a greased baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. Cool the scones on a wire rack.

Lachie is very particular about crusts and insists that all the crusts are cut off his toast at breakfast and lunch. If you miss a bit he will shout 'Bit!' or 'Crust!' and leave the entire offending piece of toast next to his plate. If he's feeling more cooperative he might just pick off the 'bit' after alerting you to its presence. He gets this from me, but I don't feel the need to tell anybody about crusts, I just leave them on my plate. Anyway, I would never really have thought of a scone having a crust, but according to Lachie it does and, whilst enjoying his scone with raspberry jam very much, he did leave the 'crusts' on his plate. To further prove just how little he understands scones he went on to have a second with, wait for it, Marmite! I don't think he's ready for a trip to Betty's just yet.

Lemon Dream Cookies

Poor wee Lachie has been down with another ear infection so he had to stay at home this afternoon rather than heading off to the pool with Hamish and Robert. Never mind, we did some baking instead! Last week I saw some Dove Farm gluten-free lemon biscuits in Morrisons and felt inspired to attempt something similar. Lachie and I got inventive and adapted a recipe for Dream Cookies that Granny has had for as long as I can remember.

Lemon Dream Cookies (free from gluten, dairy and eggs)

4oz dairy-free margarine
3oz caster sugar
4 1/2oz gluten-free self-raising flour
juice and zest of half a lemon

Cream together the sugar and margarine. Stir in the flour and lemon. For normal dream cookies this would make a mixture you can roll into balls. I thought the gluten-free flour would soak up the lemon juice but this didn't seem to be the case and this actually makes a cakie sort of mix. Spoon the mix into 16 pieces onto a greased baking sheet (Lachie got a bit anxious at this stage, obviously thinking I'd forgotten a key ingredient and started shouting 'Chocolate chips! Chocolate chips!' but I perservered - not all biscuits have to contain chocolate chips Lachie!). Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 160 degrees celsius and cool on a wire rack.

As you can see from the picture, Lachie couldn't wait to get his hands on one and Hamish also thought they were pretty good when he came home from the pool. They have a crunch on the outside but are chewy within and really very nice. I'll go and try another one now just to make sure...
Mmm yes, subtly lemony too.

A bread boast...

This is not a recipe, just a boast. Well, Robert usually makes Lachie's bread for him. This morning though he was halfway through making a loaf when he realised there wasn't enough yeast. So Robert went off to work leaving me to get the yeast after dropping Hamish off at school, and to finish the loaf in time for Lachie's lunch. Which I did, and look at the result! What a massive loaf! And not a big air hole in sight! And it is so soft! I'll keep quiet now in case I get put on bread making detail, but as a hint I added a bit more water than the standard recipe.

A delicious chocolate pudding

As previously mentioned puddings are the order of the day in our house! We are trying to fatten up Lachie's big brother Hamish who seems to have become very skinny (not Lachie though who has quite a tum). This recipe is one I used when we were only dairy- and egg-free and I have just changed the flour to make an exceedingly good gluten-free version. It is one of those brilliant puddings where the sponge appears above a chocolate sauce. I think it is especially yummy if you use Green and Black's Maya Gold chocolate for a subtle orangey spiciness!


Lachie's Self-Saucing Chocolate Sponge Pudding (free from gluten, dairy and eggs too)

For the sponge
2 oz dark chocolate (dairy-free)
1/2 oz dairy-free margarine
1/4 pint soya milk
6oz sugar
4oz gluten-free self raising flour (eg Dove Farm)

For the sauce
2oz soft brown sugar
3oz caster sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
8floz water

Melt the chocolate, margarine and milk together in a pan on a low heat. Stir into the flour and sugar and beat together to a cake mix consistency - add a bit more milk if it is too stiff. Pour the mixture into a small casserole. Put the sauce ingredients straight on top of the sponge - there is no need to mix them together. Pour over the water and bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Leave to cool a little bit before serving.

I must say that I think this recipe is too much for 2 adults and two children under five, however it always gets finished. I don't know where they put it.

Just because they're dairy-free doesn't mean they can't be cow shaped

Now that Lachie is on his gluten-free diet as well as being egg- and dairy-free, his talking has really come on. He has been really extrememly vocal today and his two most commonly used words are 'cake!' and 'biscuits!' which he always says with an exclamation mark. Today he has added a new word in response to my telling him there were no biscuits, which is 'bake!' So bake we did, some gingerbread men and Lachie's personal favourite, gingerbread cows. As Robert said this afternoon, 'just because they're dairy-free doesn't mean they can't be cow-shaped'.
When I started gluten-free baking I steered clear of flour blends and was mixing various flours as we do for our bread. But I am now a convert to Dove Farm flour blends which just seem to be brilliant. For these biscuits I use the self-raising version as the original recipe included bicarbonate of soda, and it seems to work really well.

Gingerbread cows (Gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

2oz dairy-free margarine
2oz soft light brown sugar
2oz syrup
7oz gluten-free self-raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger

Cream together the margarine and sugar until it turns light and soft. Mix in the remaining ingredients until they form a dough - this is hard work and everything goes worryingly crumbly for a while. Pop the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Roll out the cooled dough on a gluten-free floured surface to about 4mm (I always have to remember to flour the rolling pin too or the rolling pin picks up the dough!) and cut out whatever shapes you would like. We favour cows and men. Arrange the biscuits on a greased baking tray and bake for 7 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Our cows are usually just turning brown around the ankles at this stage. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy eating your herd.

Lachie took some of these biscuits to share with Hamish when we picked him up from school.

Fruit Crumble

Both my boys have been ill and I am trying to feed them up, meaning puddings at tea time are essential. Our most frequent pudding is fruit crumble, the favourite being blackberry and apple. We have both of these growing in our garden and I freeze them away in the autumn to keep us going through the winter. Sadly we have now run out so I'm now using frozen summer fruits from the supermarket which are very nice but don't give you that satisfied feeling of knowing they came from just outside the back door. Crumble is a brilliant gluten-free pudding and I find that there is really no difference in taste or texture simply substituting rice flour for wheat flour.

Fruit Crumble (gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

4 1/2oz rice flour
3oz dairy free margarine
3oz demarara sugar
enough fruit to give a good covering on the bottom of your dish

Rub the margaine into the flour until it goes to crumbs, stir in the sugar and spoon on top of the fruit. Very easy. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.

On the rare occaision that there is any left over, Lachie likes to have cold crumble for breakfast the next day!

Cinnamon muffins for a cold day

It is freezing in Skipton this week. The boys and I have been venturing out for short walks in the morning and spending the afternoon at home with the stove on. This afternoon Lachie and I baked these yummy muffins for a mid-afternoon snack. Don't be put off by the prunes - chopped up they are just like jumbo raisins!

Cinnamon muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

8oz gluten-free self raising flour (we use Dove Farm)
5oz light muscovado sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 banana, mashed
1/4 pint soya milk
6 tbsp sunflower oil
6oz prunes, chopped

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and beat the milk, oil and banana together in a jug. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix lightly. Stir in the chopped prunes. If the mixture seems a bit thick I add a drop more milk - maybe this depends on the banana?! Spoon the mixture into muffin cases in a tray. I can usually get at least 10 muffins out of this mixture. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes and cool on a wire rack.