On Friday 14th February, six Year 13 students from Culinary Studies were lucky enough to take part in a baking tutorial with Allyson Gofton at Ballantynes. She started off with a brief history of her experience in the Food industry and Food in a Minute.

Allyson went through her basic scone mixture base with tips and tricks she’s learnt over the years. We made three batches of scones; one with no changes, a gluten-free version and a buttermilk batch. She showed us how to make our own baking powder from Baking Soda and Cream of Tartar.

Gofton was very impressed with these for our first time making them as we had an even mix of baking soda and Cream of Tartar that didn’t leave a funny after taste. The third batch we made was made from buttermilk which gave it a dense texture compared to the others.

While the scones were in the oven we sat down and talked about spices that she had picked up from all over the world. The one that we found most interesting was Cinnamon and Cassia. We learnt how Cinnamon is such a common spice with a rich history, as well as Cassia which is a cheaper version of Cinnamon as it is found more commonly on the Asian continent. Cinnamon comes from the inside of specific trees which curl in a perfect circle where cassia is found on the outside of trees and curls inwards from the outside of both sides.