For my second recipe this week in honour of National Afternoon Tea Week, I thought what better baked good to make than scones. I mean, is it really a traditional afternoon tea if you don’t have scones? I think not! I remember as a child, I would absolutely love attending afternoon teas precisely for this reason alone and I swear I could have eaten an endless stack of delicious freshly baked scones topped with raspberry jam and lashings of cream! however, I wasn’t a fan of scones with raisins or currants in, they were a firm no from me! There’s just something so relaxing about sitting in a beautiful garden, soaking up some afternoon sunshine, with a pot of Early Grey tea and cake stand filled with scones, just waiting to be devoured!
These scones are slightly different from those I’ve described above.. but are certainly no less delicious. Perhaps even more so than the classic version- a pretty bold statement right there, I know! One of the reasons that these aren’t just any old scone, is that I’ve included some vegan vanilla protein.. and banana! Not only do both of these help to provide flavour and add sweetness, without any refined sugar, but you’re also increasing the protein content with the powder too. I’ve used a vegan vanilla protein blend, which is naturally sweetened with stevia here, so doesn’t contain any sugars or artificial sweeteners. When including protein powders into baking, the amounts can sometimes vary depending on the blend and brand that you’re using; but in general I will sub part of the flour quantity for the protein and just go from there. Like I said, different protein brands can be completely different in texture, so sometimes this part can require a little bit of experimentation and trial and error to figure out the right quantities and get that texture just right! For this particular recipe, the brand I was using is The Good Guru.
Now, I couldn’t very well bake scones and serve them without cream and jam now could I? Instead of using regular dairy cream, I’ve instead opted for one of my favourite and most used kitchen cupboard staples: coconut cream! Seriously guys, this stuff is just incredible and I can’t even begin to tell you how pleased I am that it came into my life! When I say coconut cream, personally I buy this in a carton and it’s literally just the coconut cream part on it’s own, without any of the liquid. Previously, I would have to scoop the thick part from the surface of a coconut milk can; which not only wasted a lot of the water left behind, but I also felt that the texture of this was very temperamental and sometimes just didn’t work at all. Queue the incredible discovery of coconut cream! It’s honestly the most amazingly velvety, smooth cream you will ever encounter in your life and has come in so handy for countless different recipes over the past 6 months. I use this in both sweet and savoury dishes and I can honestly say that It has just been a lifesaver. In fact, I love the taste so much, that for the cream, I simply just whip up some of this with a dash of vanilla extract and that’s it, all done! You could add a touch of maple syrup or honey if you did want it a little sweeter.
Something else that I’m rather particular over (I feel like I say that about a considerable almost of different thins.. perhaps too many!) is jam! However, I think this one is for good reason because I feel like jams are one of those things that can greatly vary in taste and quality. If I’m not making my own, I will always try and find a really good quality jam that doesn’t contain any added sugars and I nearly always opt for raspberry flavour.. it’s just my favourite! The brand that I absolutely love and have used in this recipe, is called St Dalfour and I have previously posted two recipes on the blog with their fruit spreads
