Pumpkin Spice Scones

Here's a lovely recipe for some scones that are perfect to have with a cup of tea on a cold wintry day like today! I like mine warmed up in the oven, topped with butter and cream cheese - yum! Canned pumpkin can be found in most supermarkets these days. I've seen it in Aldi and in the American section in Tesco. This recipe makes 8 scones. I've stored mine in a ziplock bag in the freezer. They can be put straight in the oven without defrosting.

Pumpkin Spice Scones with Maple Glaze

250g self-raising flour (gluten free of course)
70g light muscovado sugar
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
100g cold butter
50g raisins (optional, you could use a different fruit or nuts, or chocolate chips)
100ml milk
1/2 can of pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze: 100g icing sugar and enough maple syrup to make a thin drizzly icing!

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients - flour, sugar and spices. Chop the butter up and add to the bowl, mixing it loosely with your fingertips until it forms a crumbly texture then add your raisins/nuts if using them. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin, milk and vanilla extract and add to the flour mixture. Stir just until the mixture comes together. Tip the mixture out onto a clean, floured surface and pat into a circular shape, around an inch or so thick. Cut the circle into 8 triangles and carefully place onto the baking sheet with enough room to spread slightly (they do hold their shape fairly well though). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or so.

Make up the mixture for the glaze and put in a ziplock bag. When the scones are cool, snip the edge of the bag and drizzle the glaze over the top. (Or use a piping bag if you're fancy)

Best enjoyed slightly warm with butter!

Chinese Supermarkets

Although I love all food, if I had to choose one cuisine, I'd say Chinese would be right up there. I really miss 'proper' chippy meals, even though they're full of MSG and other bad stuff! I've perfected fried rice, salt and pepper potatoes etc, recipes for which can be found here but there are other meals I really enjoy too.

I'm lucky that I live near Liverpool, which has its own Chinatown and a couple of big Chinese supermarkets. These places are great for fresh ingredients and everything you could possibly need to create your own Chinese banquet - right down to the plates to eat it from. I've also learnt that they're also great for coeliacs. You need quite a bit of time to wander round looking at everything to find things that are gluten free, but just take a look at the small selection below to see what I found today.

I won't lie, I was in there close to an hour today. Most of the products are imported and the ingredients are sometimes difficult to read or non-existent in English (obviously I avoided those, just in case)

I was made up to find Black Bean and Hoisin sauces that state 'gluten free' on them! The salt and pepper seasoning is gorgeous, we use that often for chicken wings and potatoes. I've also had the packet noodles before. They're not really that much like Supernoodles as they're made with rice so have a different texture, but they certainly do the job when you need a quick snack. These also state that they are gluten free on the packet. I picked up the cookies on a whim and found they were also safe. They're made from mung bean powder and almond flour. They have an 'interesting' chalky texture which might not appeal to everyone, but I quite liked them! 

If you have any Chinese supermarkets nearby, I would highly recommend taking a bit of time to go and see what you can find - I'm sure there's lots to be discovered. Do let me know if you find any gluten free sui mai!

We're going to have a little banquet on Saturday night. I think I'll make duck pancakes with hoisin sauce, fried rice, chicken in black bean sauce, prawn crackers and salt & pepper potatoes - can't wait!