"It was November – the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines."
- L.M. Montgomery
Colder weather brings about this great desire in me to keep my kitchen warm, with the oven lights glaring red and the sink overflowing with measuring cups, spoons and mixing bowls with signs of sticky dough and sweet frosting. Sure, a hot summer's day hasn't stopped me from baking before, but there's something more alluring about baking in the winter - you're indoors, comforted by the warmth of your kitchen with cinnamon and other spices wafting in the air. Tea or hot cocoa, mandatory.
With Christmas fast approaching (less than a month to go!), my Google searches have been leaning more towards vegan Christmas recipes. There will be a lot of baking coming my way in the next couple of weeks and I'm not sorry about it at all. If "normal" people prefer to go outdoors and do winter activities, I prefer to stay in, keep warm and bake (holiday onesie also mandatory). Can that count as my winter sport?
A week ago, my dear friend, Rosa, requested a carrot cake for her upcoming birthday. If you weren't aware, yes, I make a pretty mean vegan carrot cake with cashew frosting BUT because it's so taxing with my patience to grate carrots on a rather low (the lowest) scale, I don't bake carrot cake very often. I'll make an exception this time around. As practice for the carrot grating extravaganza, I figured why not bake something with carrots... but not that much carrots. Thank you, Google, for being a search engine. I found this recipe from Faring Well that has carrots, coffee and chocolate. What more can a girl ask for? That's a well-balanced breakfast in my book. (I'm quite serious with that remark.)
Because there's really only a month left before 2017 (excuse my language, but WTAF?), I decided I needed to tackle my lack of grace in handling dough. Seriously. Dough is my kryptonite. My Achilles heel. My dough turns too chewy or too crumbly. There's no in between. But, scones. That's my first stop. I figured, does anyone apart from the English really know how scones should taste or even be like? Are they supposed to be very sweet? Only a wee bit? Hard? Soft? Crunchy on the outside with a soft centre? Is clotted cream a requirement? What's the perfect scone size? What's the point of all of these questions? I really should just get on with it, shouldn't I?
Vegan Carrot, Coffee & Chocolate Scones
Makes 4 large scones or 8 mini scones
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups spelt flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2-3 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp coarse coffee grounds
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, chilled (texture like cold butter)
- 2 tbsp nut milk of choice
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients (flour to dark chocolate). Make sure that all grated carrots are coated with the flour. In a small bowl, mix together nut milk and apple cider vinegar and wait to curdle (like buttermilk). Set aside.
Add coconut milk to flour mixture and using your hands or a fork, break apart until little clumps form. Pour nut milk mixture and mix thoroughly. Form a ball inside the bowl. If dry, add nut milk little by little.
Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Form 8 inch by 2 inch log and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F whilst the dough is chilling.
After 10 minutes, remove the dough from the freezer. Cut the log into 4 large scones or into 8 smaller version. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top and edges are golden brown.
Let cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy! xx
- 03:40
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