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Saturday March 26, 2011
Cheese Scones
I am always trying to make cheese scones - I love them. But mine always seem flat and mean looking. This recipe proved most successful to date, involving: an egg, handling the dough as little as possible, and rolling out the dough quite thickly and cutting out larger scones (the latter most obvious I suppose). I think using buttermilk instead of milk can help activate the rising agent in the flour.
Cheese Scones
Ingredients
- 6 ozs self raising flour
- 1-1½ oz butter
- pinch of salt
- pinch of English mustard powder (or less if you like)
- a good pinch of cayenne
- 3½ ozs grated Cheddar cheese
- 1 egg
- 2-3 tbsps milk (as needed)
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C)..
- Sift the flour into a bowl along with the mustard powder, salt, and cayenne pepper; mix together.
- Rub in the butter with finger tips until well combined. Mix in most of the grated cheese leaving the remainder (about a tbsp) to use later.
- Beat the eggs with 2 tbsp milk and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together to form a soft dough, adding a little more milk as required if the mixture seems dry. Try to avoid working the mixture too much.
- Gently roll out the dough on a well-floured surface, as evenly as possible to a thickness of ¾ - 1 inch. Pat the dough into a square shape as you roll and cut into 9 square (ish) scones (3 x 3) with a knife.
- Place evenly spaced on a baking sheet, allowing a little room for rising. Brush the tops with a little more milk, and sprinkle with grated cheese.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes (or a little longer if necessary) until the cheese has started to bubble and the scones are browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm or cold with or without butter but the scones are best eaten the day they are cooked. [You can freeze them, but reheat in an oven after defrosting].
Posted by Christina at 5:45 PM. Category: Kitchen and food
