You can also make these as regularsized cheese scones by simply choosing a larger cutter and amending the baking time accordingly. Serve as they are, or split them open and fill with crème fraîche or sour cream mixed with chopped chives, or even top with a dollop of thick crème fraîche and red lumpfish roe. They also work well with a sliver of salmon.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) plain all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- a pinch of paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup (75 g) cold butter, cut into cubes
- 5½ oz (150 g) Västerbotten cheese (or other hard cheese, such as pecorino), finely grated (divide into one pile of 100 g/3½ oz, and another of 50 g/2 oz)
- ½ cup (125 ml) cold milk
- ½ cup (50 g) finely chopped, toasted walnuts (optional)
- beaten egg or milk, for brushing
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
- Put the flour, baking power, paprika, salt and pepper into a bowl, then add the cold, cubed butter. Rub until the mixture resembles a crumble. Add the larger quantity of cheese and mix, then gradually add the milk to form a dough. Try not to overwork it – less is more, it simply needs to be evenly together. The more you work the dough, the denser your scones will be. Mix in the chopped walnuts, if using.
- Very gently roll out the dough to a thickness of around 1.5 cm/⅝ in. Gently brush with a little beaten egg or milk, then scatter over the remaining cheese and press down slightly. Using a 3-cm/1¼ -in. cookie cutter, punch out your scones (don’t twist them out). You can gently re-roll the remaining dough to use it all up.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for around 8–9 minutes until browned, risen and baked through.