Buttermilk Scones (Wheat Free)

There's nothing nicer than a lovely fluffy, freshly baked scone; it's one of life's simple little pleasures.

In North American countries, I believe these are more commonly known as biscuits and are eaten as part of a savoury meal, with stew or sausages and gravy. Here, they're served for breakfast, as a mid-morning snack, or an afternoon tea treat with butter and jam, and in the UK they can be eaten with clotted cream or honey.

Scones are supposed to be light and fluffy, but here in Ireland they tend to be solid and stodgy and sit in your stomach for hours. For years I've been experimenting with different recipes, but they've always been too dense and use a load of ingredients that aren't necessary.

What is necessary, however, is the combination of baking powder and baking soda. These two raising agents work together: the baking powder is a fast acting agent, that begins working as soon as they hit the oven's heat, and once it's finished working, the slow acting effect of the baking soda kicks in to continue the rising process. This is why they're super fluffsome!

Essentially, scones are baby soda breads with the addition of butter and a little sugar. They're lovely and fluffy, and best enjoyed with butter and jam. These are made using a handful of very simple ingredients: flour, raising agent, butter, buttermilk, and a hint of sugar. These are best enjoyed on the day they are baked.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Nuts
☑ Eggs

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Dairy

INGREDIMENTS

For eight medium sized scones

• 12 ounces (340 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) baking powder
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 8 to 10 fluid ounces (230 to 285 millilitres) buttermilk
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) block butter, cut into cubes
• 1 or 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 millilitres; 15 to 30 grammes) caster sugar

If using unsalted butter, add 2 pinches of salt.

METHOD

• Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter or sunflower oil. Preheat the oven to 220ºC (450ºF, Gas Mk.9).
• In a mixing bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar together until blended. Grate in the butter, then break it up a little with your fingertips; if you can still see pea-sized pieces of butter, that's enough breaking.
• Add the buttermilk bit by bit until you get a soft workable dough, mixing with a knife. Don't over handle it, or the finished scones will be tough.The dough might be a little uneven, with some bits dry and some bits sticky, but that's how it should be.
• Turn out onto a floured working surface, fold and flatten a few times to even out the consistency a bit. Flatten with your hand to a thickness of about an inch (2.5 centimetres). Using a 3 inch (7 centimetre) cutter or glass dipped in flour, cut out the scones. Do not twist the cutter: just go straight down and straight up. Twisting will make the scones turn out weird. I didn't make the rules here.
• Gently squish together the scraps and flatten out again to cut some more. You should get about eight or nine scones.
• Place the scones on the baking sheet so they're slightly touching. It helps as well to line them in a 3-2-3 pattern, as opposed to two lines of 4. This way, they help each other rise in the oven. Brush the tops with beaten egg or with melted butter.
• Cook them in the centre of the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and well risen.
• Break apart and cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before eating. They're best straight from the oven, but they do keep well in an airtight box for up to a week.

THIS TIME IN 2015: Low Effort Tray Bake Sponge (Wheat and Dairy Free)

THIS TIME IN 2014: No recipe

THIS TIME IN 2013: Buttercream Icing: the King of all Icings

Ginger Ale (No Brewing Required)

TADA!! Homemade ginger ale! And they said I couldn't do it.... they didn't actually, but I wanted some drama in that sentence.

 Ginger ale: one of my life's longest abiding pleasures. Many a time has a glass of ginger ale accompanied me on a winter night, a Christmas celebration, or sat beside me on the bedside table when I was ill or tired. Ever since I was very little, I can remember my dad buying me a bottle of Schwepps ginger ale whenever I asked for one as one of his little indulgences for me, and he still does even though I'm all grown up.

In my teens, Tesco made a Tesco Finest Jamaican Ginger Root Ale, that was the most beautiful version of the drink I've ever tasted: it was really full of flavour, not too sweet, and was so spicy that the edges of my lips with burn and tingle a bit. I only was it one Christmas when I was around 14, and never since; the closest I've come to tasting it again was when my friend from Roscommon bought a four-pack of Australian Bundaburg ginger ales in brown bottles.

I find it hard nowadays to find a ginger ale that's not sticky sweet, but has freshness and depth of flavour. The Schwepps stuff is nice and chuggable, but it's not the most fulfilling of ginger ale experiences one could have.

So, about three years ago I tried making ginger ale by brewing and it was horrible. I remember for the laugh my boyfriend at the time shaking it up until it was rock solid from the pressure of the bubbles and lamping it against a wall: the explosion was quite spectacular!

It was only when I saw a video of 'How to Make Ginger Ale' online that I considered making it as a cordial to be diluted with sparkling water... which is a genius idea. I thank the man on Youtube who inspired me to take his recipe and fiddle with it to my taste.

INGREDIMENTS
Makes 1 pint (560 millilitres) of cordial, which can ideally make about 5 pints (2.8 litres) of finished ginger ale

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) ginger root, peeled and sliced into thin pieces
• 10 ounces (300 grammes) sugar or 7½ ounces (210 grammes) clear honey
• 1 medium lemon, washed
• Pinch of salt
• 1 3/4 pints water
• Optional: 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• Optional: 1 cinnamon stick

HOW-TO

• Using a paring knife, carefully peel the rind off the lemon in strips, making sure to peel off only the yellow part and not the white part.
• Place the peeled rind, along with the ginger root, sugar (or honey) and salt into a large saucepan. If you want even more spice and aromatic goodness, add the chilli flakes and cinnamon stick; I like my ginger ale so spicy it tingles my lips.
• Pour in the water, stir it all up until it's evenly combined, then heat over medium-high heat until the sugar has dissolved and it comes to boil.
• Once boiling, reduce the heat to simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer for an hour to allow the spices to release their goodness into the syrup.
• Uncover and boil rapidly for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce and thicken. You should end up with about a pint (560 millilitres) of cordial.
• Strain the mixture into a jug through a large sieve. To catch every single bit of chilli flake, sediment and whatever, you can line the sieve with a clean handkerchief. 
• You can keep the ginger pieces and lemon peel if you like to crystallise later, or you can compost them. If the cinnamon stick has any bit of aroma left, you can wash it, dry it, and reuse it.
• Allow the cordial to cool to room temperature. Once cool, squeeze the lemon juice into the jug through a sieve to catch all the seeds and bits. Give it a mix, then chill until cold.
• Serve diluted with fizzy water (and ice cubes, if you like). The best ratio is 1 part cordial to 4 parts water. You could also serve diluted with hot water for a warming treat when you're feeling under the weather.

This ginger ale is very fiery and fresh! If you don't want it as spicy, you can adjust the simmering while covered time.

Soda Bread with Oats and Sunflower Seeds (Wheat Free)

Soda bread is ever so simple, and is the perfect bread for a beginner as it needs no yeast. This kind of bread recipe, known as a quick bread, relies on the very basic principle of acid + base = gas for leavening, and as this is an instant reaction it can be cooked straight after preparation. It has been a staple of Irish kitchens for many a year, and its stale crusts has teethed many an Irish country toddler.

However, as nice and easy as it is, it can be really boring if made with plain old flour (even if it is wholemeal, which is flavourful and complex), so to spice things up a bit it's nice to add seeds, herbs and spices, other grains, or even finely chopped nuts. My cousin visited recently and left behind a packet of sunflower seeds, which I found add such a delicious flavour, and bring life and colour to an otherwise visually boring.

Also, soda bread is traditionally made with buttermilk: the acidity of the buttermilk reacts with the bread soda causing lift, and it gives the bread richness. However, if you don't plan on making soda bread often, it would be impractical to keep buttermilk in he fridge, as it would go off before you used it all. If you want to make your own buttermilk, simply add 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) of lemon juice to every 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) of normal milk, stir and allow to rest for 10 minutes, stirring every little while.

Let's get onto the recipe itself.

INGREDIMENTS:
This will yield one 8x4 inch (21x10 centimeter) loaf.

• 1 pound (455 grammes) spelt flour, white or whole meal
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) rolled oats
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) sunflower seeds 
• 12 fluid ounces (340 millilitres) buttermilk
• 2 or 3 fluid ounces (60 or 85 millilitres) water, if needed

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4, or moderate). Grease and flour a loaf tin.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, bread soda, salt, oats, and sunflower seeds until fully blended. Make a well in the middle.
• Pour the buttermilk into the well, and using your hand (don't use any tools for this, soda bread needs a sensitive hand only) and gently mix together the wet and dry ingredients until just brought together. 
• This mixture should not be like usual bread dough, or even like biscuit dough, it should be  sticky and make an absolute mess of your hand; imagine the texture of thick porridge. If you need to add the water to get the right consistency, add it an ounce (30 millilitres) at a time.
• Pour into the tin and put into the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with one or two crumbs clinging to it, and the loaf sounds hollow underneath.
• Once removed from the oven, wrap in a clean, damp tea towel.

Simple as that! Slice thick, slice thin, eat toasted, eat straight, with butter, jam peanut butter, whatever! This is perfect student food, as it is cheap, keeps well and freezes better. Store in an airtight container, and cut as needed to prolong the shelf-life.

Incidentally, the green bits are sunflower seeds, not mould, before you ask!