04 Mar Recipe: Cheese Scones

Given scones British heritage, I like to use a good crumbly cheddar in my cheese scones; most of it mixed into the dough and a little saved to sprinkle on top. Depending on your oven, the topping may brown unevenly, so check after 10 minutes and if necessary turn the tray around to get an even colour. I like the extra savoury note a pinch of cayenne pepper adds to cheese scones, but it’s not essential.

Roberta Muir

Makes 7

Ingredients

• 300g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• Pinch salt flakes, crushed
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 50g cold butter, diced
• 150g mature cheddar, grated
• 220ml milk or buttermilk, plus extra for brushing

Method

1. Preheat oven to 240°C.
2. Sift flour into a bowl.
3. Add salt and butter and use your fingertips to rub butter into the flour until there aren’t any more lumps.
4. Add two-thirds of the cheese and quickly rub it in until it’s evenly distributed.
5. Make a well in the centre, add buttermilk and use a pastry scraper or hard spatula to cut it into the flour to form a soft sticky dough.
6. Turn onto a well-floured bench, dust the top and your hands with flour, and pat the dough into a 3cm-thick round.
7. Use a 6cm cookie cutter dipped in flour to cut out rounds, placing them close together on a baking paper-lined baking tray.
8. Gently pat remaining dough together and cut out more rounds.
9. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
10. Place in the oven, reduce temperature to 200°C and bake for about 25 minutes, until well-browned.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool a little.
12. Serve warm with butter.