Blueberry Scones

Well, as you could have guessed from my last post, it's only natural that I ended up making scones. Since spring time is coming, all the fruit I have been missing is coming back into season. We bought some blueberries a couple days ago, and I just knew that I was going to make scones. I just had to wait until I had the time. I feel like I am just as busy now as I was in Grad school.

We slept in Saturday morning, and when I woke up, I got straight to work on making scones. Which also explains why the pictures are so crappy. Sorry, I am trying to figure out the lighting here in the house for picture taking. Once it get's warmer, I am hoping to implement our garden into the pictures more, since we'll be using most of that produce for all our summer cooking/baking.

I used my flour mixture, which, in my opinion  is the best gluten-free flour mixture. Now, me sharing this with you is a big step, because I am kind of selfish when it comes to recipes. But I am trying to grow and share... and remember all the lessons you learn when you're a kid. ;) Anyway, the gluten-free flour mixture is a combination of 3 different flours/starches, and makes about 5 cups a batch. Which is perfect because I usually only use 1.5 cups of this flour when baking. Except with the scones, because they take a whopping 3 cups!

These scones are my speciality. It took me quite some time to really master them. To include secret ingredients (that I won't share here) to make them just the way I want them. There's a ton of variation to this recipe. You could use any type of fruit you want, except maybe the watery fruits like kiwi and mango, or you could just leave the fruit out, and add a 2 teaspoons of vanilla to it. Or, you could go super bland, and just do nothing. Your choice. The possibilities are endless with this baby.

The two of us each had three this morning, and are looking forward to tomorrow morning when we can have more. We took the lemon curd that I made the other night, and dolloped our scones with it. There are numerous ways to eat scones. I prefer to cut mine in half and put lemon curd on each half, while my partner likes to just dollop the lemon curd on the whole scone. I love the colour of the yellow and blue from the blueberries. It makes this delicious purple swirl of colour. And the lemon and blueberries just go so well together, I have a hard time making any other type of scone. :)

Kyrie's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
Makes 5 cups

4 c. superfine brown rice flour
1 1/3 c. potato starch (not potato flour)
2/3 c. tapioca flour (also known as tapioca starch)

Measure flour using a large spoon and scooping into the measuring cup, then level with back of knife. Do NOT use the measuring cup itself to scoop flour--this will compact flour and will end up with too much.

Combine all ingredients in a gallon-size ziplock bag. Shake until well blended. Store in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Scones
Makes 12-16 scones depending on size you make

1 (6-ounce) container of plain coconut milk yogurt
3/4 c. oat milk (or your choice of non-dairy milk)
3 c. gluten-free flour mixture
3/4 tsp. xanthan gum
1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 tbs. double-acting baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. canola oil
1 container of fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper or oil.

Whisk together the yogurt and milk in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, double-acting baking powder, and salt.

Add the milk and canola oil to the dry ingredients, as well as the blueberries. Mix until there's no more dry flour and everything is evenly distributed and combined.

Flour a work surface (I use a medium-sized cutting board) with a little bit of the gluten-free flour mixture. Take half the scone mixture and place on prepared surface. Pat into a 6 to 8 inch disk and cute into wedges, like you would a pie. Place the triangles on the prepared baking pan, and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes, or until they are lightly golden brown. Eat right from the oven, and dollop lemon curd or jam of your choosing on top.

Store in ziplock bag for 2-3 days (if you have left overs).

Lemon Curd

I am obsessed with scones and lemon curd. I think it probably started when my Aunt and Grandma started taking me to high tea in San Francisco as a little girl. We would go somewhere (I can't recall the name. It might have been the Ritz) and we would drink tea and eat alllll the little snacks. The cucumber sandwiches, the cookies, the petit fours, and most importantly the scones that I would slather with clotted cream ad lemon curd.

Then, when I was 20, I moved to England for six months, and there are scones everywhere in England. Scones, clotted cream, and lemon curd everywhere, and I ate them so much. I came back, and I never tried to recreate lemon curd, but I did start making scones. I stopped making scones for awhile because I had to stop eating flour. But then I made my flour, and I started making scones. I make scones at least once a month, but usually two or three times a month. I really have nailed the scones.

So, in order for me to have dairy-free lemon curd, I have to make it myself. Which is TOTALLY fine, because my lemon curd is really quite good and tastes just like anything from England or anywhere else. I also refuse to eat scones without it, so, as you can guess, I will be making scones in the near future. :)

My partner's mom sends us true British black tea from England, so it's always takes me back to my England days of drinking black tea, eating scones with lemon curd, and enjoying life. And luckily, I have someone who enjoys it just as me, if not more.

You have to make the curd the night before you want to eat it. You have to cook it, and then in order for it to set, you have to put it in the fridge for a good 8-10 hours. It thickens up and the lemon tastes so good. One of the problems with lemon curd, is that if you cook it too long on the stove top, your lemon curd will taste like nasty egg. Yes, I've experienced, and yes, it really is god awful.

I use more lemon than most, because I like my lemon curd to be really lemony. The first time I made it, I only used a half cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice, but since I have made this so much, I usually up the lemon juice to a cup. But, if you're looking for something not so tart, stick with the half cup. 

While you're mixing everything up in the blender, it will look chunky and gross. The lemon juice doesn't necessarily curdle the egg, sugar, and vegan butter mixture, but it does something to it that makes it weird. I am sure it has to do with the acidity in the lemon. 

But once you start to heat it up, the sugar starts to melt and it becomes this beautiful yellow sauce. As I mentioned before, please be extremely careful when cooking this. It can turn on you in an instant. If you have a candy thermometer  I suggest you pull it out. You want this to get to 160 and then immediately stop cooking it. If you don't, I have noticed that cooking it for 8 to 10 minutes is perfect.

Once you're done cooking it, I would suggest putting it directly in jars. I use canning jars, but with this recipe, you're gonna have a little extra, so I use just a miniature jar we have laying around in our glass jar stash. The way we eat this is with scones, but it also tastes really good with shortbread cookies, toast, and in cakes as a filler. Feel free to experiment!

Lemon Curd
1 stick of butter at room temperature
1 1.5 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (more if you're wanting something tart)
4 eggs

Blend the butter and sugar on medium speed until it comes together. Add the eggs one at a time until they are combined with the sugar mixture. Once eggs are combined, add the lemon juice.

Once these are all mixed together, transfer to a medium size pot and turn the stove top to medium-high (I usually put it between 4 and 5). Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture has changed to a brighter colour, has gotten a little bit thicker. This will take between 8-10 minutes or until you reach between 150-160 on a candy thermometer.

Pour into jars immediately and let cool at room temperature for two hours or so (if you have more time, that's fine). Cover jars and place in the fridge overnight.