These tasty and colourful scones are lovely with soup or a salad or cold meat or on their own with butter. Hopefully, the name intrigued you, but don’t worry, they won’t be a garish embarrassment at high tea. The “red” is Red Leicester cheese (which is more like orange, actually) and the blue can be any crumbly blue cheese.
Makes: 9 – 10
Time: 25 minutes preparation then around 15 minutes baking
Difficulty: Dead easy
Credit: Inspired by, and adapted from, a recipe in the marvellous National Trust “Book of Scones”
Ingredients
- 500g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 125g butter, cubed
- 70g crumbly blue cheese (e.g. Stilton, Yorkshire Blue)
- 120g Red Leicester cheese, grated + 20g for topping
- 3 or 4 dried figs, chopped
- Approx. 150ml milk + 15ml to brush tops
- black pepper (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan 170C/375F/Gas 5. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or simply spray or smear a baking sheet with oil or butter.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and rub in the butter, using your finger tips, until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Add the blue cheese and stir the mixture, likewise for the Red Leicester then the figs. This will stop these items “clumping” together.
- Add enough milk to form a soft, malleable dough.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead very briefly and gently then roll out to about 3cm thick. (That’s the “official” method, I prefer to gently pat my scone dough into shape by hand to avoid squashing it.) Stamp out scones using a 7cm round cutter. (Don’t twist when cutting, as this inhibits the rise.)
- Place on the baking sheet and brush the tops with a little milk (don’t let it dribble or run down the sides as this will also inhibit the rise.) Sprinkle with the remaining Red Leicester then grind a small amount of black pepper over each scone if you wish.
- Bake for 12 – 18 minutes until well risen.
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