Introduction:
Today I continued the experiment with gluten and dairy free baking. Three frieds who have a combination of gluten and dairy alleries are the inspiration for this experiment. The normal challenge when baking gluten-free is finding replacement for the gluten molecules, but this is not an issue given the characteristic texture of scones. One of the purposes for adding buttermilk (non-dairy in this case) is to breakdown some of the gluten strands which form in the dough. The difficulty with this recipe is finding adequate replacement for the buttermilk and its role as a chemical leavening (the adic in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to form gas bubbles within the dough). For these scones I adapted my chocolate chip scone recipe
Procedure:
(red ingredients need modifying, see Results and Observations)
Ingredients:
2 C gluten-free flour
1/4 C wht sugar
1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C margarine cubed (chilled)
3/4 C frozen raspberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 C non-dairy buttermilk
Glaze:
approx 1/4 C frozen raspberries
1/2 to 1 C powdered sugar, enough to form a thin paste when mixed with the raspberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400oF (200oC), set oven rack to middle, line baking sheet with parchment paper
- Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (see fig 1.)
- Set raspberries in a bowl to defrost (fig 2.)
- Cut in margarine(using pastry knife)
- Mix 2 tablespoons lemon juice with enough coconut milk to create 2/3 C non-dairy buttermilk. Allow to sit at least 5 minutes (see fig 3.)
- Drain excess liquid from raspberries and stir in
- In separate bowl whisk buttermilk and vanilla, add to dry ingredients
- Stir just until dough comes together (don't overmix)
- On floured surface knead dough 4-5x
- Pat dough 1.5" thick and cut into 8 wedges. Place on baking sheet (see fig 4.)
- Brush tops with coconut milk
- Bake 15-20 mins (until golden brown)
- Cool and enjoy!
- For glaze, allow scones to cool and then pipe glaze onto scones (see fig 5.)
Figure 1. Dry ingredients. Note the unique texture because of gluten-free flour
Figure 2. Allow frozen raspberries to defrost to remove excess liquid
Figure 3. Non-dairy buttermilk sitting for five minutes
Figure 4. Scones ready to bake
The scones were not bad, but not perfected. The texture was chewy, and perhaps this is from the use of margarine or a lack of adequate leavening. The non-dairy buttermilk may not have been strong enough to react properly or the bubbles may have been lost due to overmixing (human error).
The scones also lacked sufficent sweetness and raspberry flavor. Looking back on my notes from previous fruit scone trials I see a lack of sweetness has been a problem before. The 1/4 C sugar works in tandem with the sweetness of the chocolate chips in the original recipe, but needs supplementing for fruit scones. Also, the quantity of fruit used was too little. 3/4 C chocolate chips may suffice, but I should have increased the amount of raspberries to at least 1 cup.
I employed the raspberry glaze to make up for the lack of sweetness and raspberry flavor. The good news is my friends were more pleased with the results than I.
Changes to try next time:
use 1/2 C sugar
use 1+ C fruit (still allow to defrost and drain)
Figure 5. Glazed scones
