Madam Noir and I stopped for a refreshing cup of tea in Newcastle the other day. The tea shop offered a rather quaint 'Scone of the Day'. This was proving popular with the blue rinse and surgical stocking brigade. Madam Noir, always an OAP before her time, ordered one. It was cheese, ham and tomato. I sampled a piece, and even though I tend to think scones are a little dull, it was (in the words of Michael Winner) HISTORIC!I vistited Aunty Margaret today, and decided some home-baked scones would be the perfect gift for the octogenarian vamp . One of my gripes with shop bought scones is how meanly they are filled. I want to cut into a warm scone and see it positively oozing with melted cheese. These scones are bursting with luscious gorgeousness. If you click on the photo above you will see how moist and decadent they really are.
Aunty Margaret's Scones
- about 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 75 -100g of mature cheese (I used an aged Red Leicester)
- 2 slices of thick cut ham, cubed
- 500g of plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4.5 tsp of cream of tartar
- 125 g of cold butter, cubed
- 300 ml whole milk
- 1 egg beaten (for egg wash)
- half a teaspoon of English mustard powder
Method
First you need to roast your tomatoes. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and a little sugar and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 30 minutes at 160 degrees. They will be sweet and gently caramelised. Leave to cool. Alternatively, you could use sun dried tomatoes, but I hate their rubbery, oily texture. Slow roasted tomatoes are an absolute joy.
Next sift the flour, bicarb, baking powder and mustard together and add salt and pepper.
Rub the cubed, chilled butter into the dry mixture.
Stir in the cheese, ham and cooled roasted tomatoes.
Add the milk, mix quickly then turn out and knead to form a dough.
Roll the dough and cut out into scone shapes. Brush with egg wash and bake at 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
You should get 12-15 scones from this recipe.
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