Kama overpowers breakfast scones

It's this funny thing that I don't have graham flour at home. So every time I need it, I look around in the kitchen and discover:
a) no way I'm making this without graham flour
b) OK, I'll manage without
c) oh I'll just use kama again
And so it happens that the Estonian national dish kama (I wrote about it here) unintentionally discoveres itself in all kinds of dishes. I replace some of the graham flour with regular wheat flour and some of it with kama. The results are always interesting. This weekend my breakfast scones turned really Estoniany.


These scones are equally good with some cheese or a sweet topping. Good quality butter or some jam on a warm slice is a breakfast classic - as simple and good as it can get. I ate a slice with some cheese and one with vanilla and chocolate sauce.

Breakfast scones with kama

1 3/4 dl wheat flour
1/2 dl kama
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
25 g butter at room temperature
1 dl milk

1. Mix together the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add butter and mix carefully.Finally quickly blend in milk.
2. Heat a skillet and form an about 1 cm thick round. Make holes in it with a fork and bake it over medium heat for about 6 minutes on each side.
3. Serve warm or cooled, cut into slices.



The scones don't taste so good anymore later and should be eaten the same day. But as they're fast to make, this is not a problem, fresh scones are a lovely substitute to bread on weekend mornings or even on weekdays if you're not a person who loves to sleep until the very last minute.

A pinch of traditions

I thought it would suit just perfectly to start with something Estonian. At this time of year everybody is talking about baked potatoes, blood sausage or rich pork roast, so I'd better remind kama.

Kama is a traditional Estonian food, a flour mix of different roasted and grinded grains (wheat, rye, barley) and legumes. It is usually eaten mixed into dairy products (buttermilk, yoghurt, curd cheese), but is sometimes just the taste a cake or some snack needs. In this cake the taste of kama can be felt pretty strongly and the sweet, sour and salty tastes compete with each other in a pleasantly baffling way.


Rhubarb-kamacake with cinnamon flavoured glaze

100 ml vegetable oil
130 g honey
1 egg
1 tbsp baking soda
150 ml unflavoured yoghurt
250 g wheat flour
100 g kama flour
2 tsp salt
350 minced rhubarb
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g chopped nuts (i.e. almonds, hazelnuts, pecans)
70 g sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter (at room temperature)

1. mix together oil and honey, add the egg and blend well, then add yoghurt and vanilla extract.
2. mix together wheat flour and kama, baking powder, shopped nuts and salt, add to the mixture.
3. you can add the rhubarb the way you like it the most. I like to puree half of it and add the other half minced. put the blended batter into a baking pan.
4. mix together the butter, sugar and cinnamon. gently cover the batter with the mixture.
5. bake the cake at 170 C for about 1 hour until firm.

The cake is just perfect served warm with a cup of cold milk, but nearly as good served at room temperature. It's not the sweetest of bites, but is a good change with its controversial tastes. Maybe serve with apricot jam and green tea?