Recipe courtesy of Shane Smith and Gem.
Ingredients
- 150g Gem Christmas pudding fruit mix
- 60ml hot tea
- 300g Gem plain flour
- 25g Gem caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground clove
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2.5 tablespoons Gem baking powder
- 85g butter, room temperature
- 175ml buttermilk
- 1 egg – for egg wash
Method
- To rehydrate the dried fruit, cover in hot tea for two hours. You can also use alcohol, if desired.
- For the scones, sieve the flour, sugar, spices and baking powder into a bowl.
- Add the butter and with your fingertips, rub it in until you reach a breadcrumb consistency.
- The next step is to add the buttermilk and mix to form a dough.
- Finally, add the drained soaked fruit and mix to combine.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured table and lightly knead to activate the gluten and to give it structure. Roll the dough to a thickness of 4cm.
- Taking a 6cm round cutter, cut out the scones by pressing down and not twisting.
- Place on a tray and cover with a clean kitchen cloth and allow the scones to rest for 25-30 mins. This resting period may seem long but is crucial to give you a soft flaky scone that has structure when it bakes.
- Preheat your oven to 200C/180C fan.
- Once rested, egg wash the scones and place in the preheated oven for 14-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown all over.
- Remove and allow to cool. Serve with semi whipped cream.
