CHEESE, SPRING ONION & SESAME SCONES

the best cheese scone you'll ever eat (imho)

I back myself to be able to bake a pretty good treat given the right level of desire, drive and motivation, it’s rare for me to eat something out and about that I don’t think I could also make at home if I really put my mind to it. That is until I tried the Marmite, Cheese and Spring Onion pastry from Popham’s bakery in London. This pastry floored me the first time I had it, and had me going back multiple times that week to get a second and third bite. Something about the combination of flavours and textures really blew me away, not to mention their perfect croissant dough, that for my money is the best pastry you can buy in London.

Despite my love for the pastry, I can’t have one nearly as often as I would like, and there is no way I’m getting into the habit of making croissant dough at home. So in an attempt to curb the cravings I developed a scone recipe with the same flavour profile, so that I could have one any time I liked, when the craving strikes and I can’t get down to a Popham’s in time. The one caveat, is that I tried to incorporate marmite into the mix, mimicking the Popham’s style and glazing the scones in a marmite solution, and it just didn’t work. They came out looking a little burnt and were reminiscent of a Twiglet in flavour, which strangely the Popham’s version isn’t ?! So my strong serving suggestion is to bake off a scone of two, crack them open while still warm and slather with butter and marmite.

This is the first baking recipe I have shared ahead of publication from In for Dinner, and I am SO excited for you to try it. In my humble opinion, it’s the best cheese scone recipe around.

If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll consider pre ordering a copy of the book, which is jam packed full of 101 more like it - delicious, affordable and achievable recipes to share with your friends and family. I’m particularly proud to say we’ve partnered up with my favourite London independent bookshop, BookBar, on signed copies. If you or someone you know might appreciate a signed copy of In for Dinner, you can find them here.

Sending love, Rosie x

COMTE, SPRING ONION & SESAME SCONES

My serving suggestion for these, to get the full experience, is to eat them while they are still warm, cut in half and slathered in salted butter and a healthy amount of Marmite. It's always worth making the full batch and freezing any that you don't want to bake immediately­. They cook very well from frozen and it's such a treat to have them ready to bake in the freezer, for those days when you don't have time to make the full recipe from scratch.

Makes 12 scones

400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tbsp caster sugar

2½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

180g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

a small bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced

200g natural yoghurt

1 egg, plus another beaten to use as egg wash

200g Comte, cubed (or your favourite sharp hard cheese, such as a mature Cheddar)

50g white sesame seeds

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sea salt, black pepper and the cubed butter, and mix on a slow speed with the paddle attachment. You can easily rub the butter in by hand in a large mixing bowl if you don't have a stand mixer - it will just require a little more time and energy.

2. Once the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, add the spring onions, yoghurt and egg. Mix again until the dough has just come together.

3. Add the cubed Comté and mix for the briefest of moments until combined.

4. Turn the dough out on to a floured work surface and pat into a rough rectangle.

5. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a long rectangle, then fold into thirds like a letter and roll out again. Repeat this step once more.

6. Line a 20cm x 30cm baking tray with cling film and press the dough into the tin, until you have a flat rectangle that fills the tray. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

8. Take the dough out of the freezer and turn it out on to a board. With a sharp knife, cut it into 12 equal rectangular pieces. At this stage, you can store any scones you don’t want to bake in a sealed container in the freezer.

9. Brush each scone with a little egg wash and roll in the sesame seeds.

10. Place on the prepared tray and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp on the base. If baking from frozen, add 7 minutes to the cooking time.