WALNUT & SAGE CHEESE SCONES, SPICED PICKLED APPLE
Ingredients
- 225 g self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
- 1/2 tsp English mustard powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 55 g cold unsalted butter cubed
- 30 g walnuts finely chopped
- 125 g cheddar cheese grated
- 90 ml milk plus extra for brushing
- 8 sage leaves
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- to serve: salted butter, thinly sliced cheddar cheese
QUICK PICKLED APPLES
- 125 ml white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 10 peppercorns
- 1 large eating apple peeled & thinly sliced
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180°c (fan assisted)/390°f/gas 6 and put a baking tray in the oven to warm up with it.
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Start by making the quick pickled apples. Combine the white wine vinegar, caster sugar, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, a good pinch of salt and 125ml of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Arrange the sliced apple in a heatproof container and pour over the boiling pickling brine. Give everything a quick stir, then let it sit and macerate whilst you continue with the recipe.
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Sift the flour, English mustard powder and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and a pinch of salt and black pepper and use your fingers to work it into the flour mixture, until you have something which resembles rough breadcrumbs. Stir through the chopped walnuts and most of the grated cheddar cheese (keeping a small handful back for topping), then add the milk and knead it together very briefly with your hands, careful not to overwork it, until the mixture forms a dough. It is a crumbly dough, but if it is too crumbly to come together, you can add a little more milk, 1 tsp at a time.
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Gently roll out the dough on a floured surface into a disc shape roughly 2.5cm in thickness, then cut it into quarters and eights, like you would a pizza. Lay each triangular scone on a sheet of baking parchment and brush with a little milk. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over top of each one, then top with a sage leaf. Grind them with black pepper, then slide the whole sheet of parchment quickly onto the hot baking tray and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until they have risen and are golden on top. Let them cool for 5 minutes.
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Tear or slice open the still slightly warm scones and slather with salted butter and layer with thinly sliced cheddar cheese and a slice or two of pickled apple. Gorgeous.
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