This giant vegan scone cake is flavoured with seasonal elderflower blossoms and strawberries for a very simple, beautiful spring dessert. If you can't get elderflower, extra lemon zest makes a good substitute, or lilac blossoms.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 40 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Elderflower Lemon Scone
2cupslight spelt flouror a combination of light and whole spelt*
¼cupcoconut sugar
1tablespoonbaking powder
2teaspoonsarrowroot powder
½teaspoonvanilla powder
¼teaspoonsea salt
¼cupsolid coconut oil**
¾cupcoconut milk***
2tablespoonselderflower blossoms****
Zest of a lemon
Coconut Whipped Cream
1can full-fat coconut milk355 ml, chilled for at least 24 hours
1tablespoonhoney or maple syrup
¼teaspoonvanilla powder
Strawberry Topping
500gramsripe strawberriesabout 3 cups
1tablespoonhoney or maple syrup
Instructions
Elderflower Lemon Scone
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, arrowroot, vanilla, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Blend to combine, and then add the coconut oil. Pulse until the coconut oil is cut into small pieces and the mixture looks slightly sandy.
Move the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the coconut milk, elderflower blossoms, and lemon zest. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. The dough will be a little wetter than scone dough usually is, but that's normal.
Take the dough out of the bowl and use your hands to form a rough ball, then place it on the prepared baking sheet. Press down with your hands to make a circle of dough that's about 5cm high. Use a light hand to keep the coconut oil from melting.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden in colour. Let the scone cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before gently placing it on a rack to cool completely. It will be delicate while it's still warm.
Once it's cool, cut it in half with a serrated knife. Use about half of the whipped cream and 1 cup of strawberries as filling in the centre, and sprinkle some more elderflower blossoms over it. Place the other half of the scone on top and then add the remaining cream and strawberries. Top with extra blossoms, and serve right away.
Coconut Whipped Cream
Scoop the hardened cream from the can, leaving any remaining water (use this in smoothies). Add it to a mixing bowl with the honey and vanilla, then whip with an electric beater at a high speed until peaks form and it looks like whipped cream. Use immediately (it can harden again if refrigerated for longer than about half an hour).
Strawberry Topping
Wash the strawberries and remove the greens. Cut them in halves or quarters, depending on how big they are. Place the berries in a bowl with the honey and stir until they're coated.
Notes
* Since this is a dessert, I wouldn't use more than half whole spelt flour. I use a similar base recipe for biscuits with whole spelt, but it will be a little tougher than if you just use light spelt. ** If your kitchen is very warm and your coconut oil has melted, measure out the 1/4 cup and spread it out onto parchment and pop it in the freezer for about ten minutes. *** Mix a little bit of the water from the canned coconut milk in with the cream to get the same consistency of whipping cream for your coconut milk in this recipe. **** I used one head of elderflower blossoms to get 2 tablespoons. • If you don't have a food processor, you can cut the coconut oil in with a pastry cutter or two knives, but using knives is deeply frustrating. • Make sure to use a type of coconut milk that doesn't have added thickeners for the best results (in both the scone and the whipped cream). Some people swear by aroy-d brand, and I generally find that less expensive varieties work better. I use the denns brand here in Germany and it always works perfectly. • Always look for small, deep red strawberries. Smaller ones are sweeter than their large counterparts.