I had been debating what to do with the beautiful and GIGANTIC rhubarb growing in my garden for several weeks now. It got to the point where it had to be picked, before it turned hard and stringy. I settled on scones, because I had never made them with rhubarb before- usually I stick to sauces and such. Although I did make a rhubarb sauce to top them with! I had just found a giant bag of spelt flour (which I love!) at Costco, and took advantage of the opportunity to use it.

Check out the size of just one leaf! To me it looks prehistoric…like something you’d see with dinosaurs around it…but then again I was always a huge fan of Land Before Time as a child.

Rhubarb Spelt Scones

• 1 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 6 tbsp butter, cubed and cold
• 1/2 cup rhubarb, chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and let stand a few minutes, until curdled. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the butter, and cut it in with a pastry cutter, until only pea-sized pieces remain. Add the rhubarb and the curdled almond milk. Mix until it just comes together. If it is too crumbly, just add a bit more almond milk little by little until you can form a ball with the dough. On a lightly floured surface, make the dough into a circle, about an inch thick, and cut into 8 pieces, brush tops with almond milk and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Rhubarb Topping (adapted from here)

• 4 stalks rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• sprinkle of nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine rhubarb and water in a saucepan, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes- until rhubarb begins to soften. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. Continue to simmer until rhubarb is completely softened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in honey and vanilla extract. Let cool.

Serve the scones smothered in rhubarb sauce, with clotted cream or whipped cream, or of course with some nice, cold butter. Enjoy!

I thought I would also share some of my favourite pics from the summer so far, because I know my blogging hasn’t exactly been regular. At least you can see a bit of what I’ve been up to!

Kayaking in Whistler

Attending a concert- Trace Adkins & Toby Keith! Any excuse to wear my cowboy boots!

Ummm...stealing Yoshi's head

Forcing my brother to take a picture with me

Drinking bellinis...possibly after a beer garden...tough work to say the least!

And there you go!

One last thing I have been doing is writing for Examiner.com as their Vancouver Vegetarian Restaurant Examiner. Please check out my first couple of articles, and feel free to subscribe, comment or share on Facebook or Twitter!

Enjoy some delicious pumpkin scones like I did, with a great recipe from Pinch My Salt. These really embrace fall flavours and make a great treat on the weekend or for a special pick-me-up in the afternoon. I made some changes in the recipe, as I don’t usually eat cream or milk and I thought that dried cranberries would add more to the recipe than raisins. Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry for the short post but I’m working at way at getting my ‘Culinary’ section up and running, along with a pile of homework!!

Pumpkin Spice Scones

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose white flour)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4  tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup plain soy milk
• 6 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt, and all spices. Whisk together well.

In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, soy milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. Cut butter into pieces and put in bowl with the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the dried cranberries if you are using them.

Pour liquid mixture into the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just moistened. The dough will be very crumbly, this is the way it should be. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and push the pile together with your hands. It should stick together fairly well. Knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.
4. Pat the dough out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.

Cinnamon Glaze

Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp soy milk, 1/4 – 1/2 t. cinnamon (to taste). Again, adjust amounts to change consistency. Icing can be brushed on or drizzled.