Baked

Mini Cheddleton & Chive Scones

/ Claire / Leave a comment

These little bite-sized scones are made with Cheddleton from the Staffordshire Cheese Company, which is a creamy and quite crumbly cheese with a nice tang. It goes perfectly with the freshly snipped chives that are in these little scones. These are very nice, served warm with proper butter.

Cheese chive scones

Ingredients:
250g of self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1tsp English mustard powder
125g cold butter – cut into small cubes
150g grated Cheddleton Cheese plus extra for topping with
2tbs finely chopped chives
120ml whole/full fat milk
1 egg beaten and a little milk to make an egg wash

Method:
Sieve the flour, baking powder, mustard and salt in a bowl with the paddle attachment fitted. Add the cold, diced butter and mix until the butter is mixed into the flour but still visible.

Add the cheese and milk and mix until just combined.

Form a flattish disc and wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C/425 degrees F

When you are ready to back, turn onto a floured board and roll out to around 2.5cm thick and use a small round cutter – around 2cm.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon mat and brush the tops with a little egg wash and more of the grated cheese.

cheese and chive scones

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and well risen.

Best served warm from the oven with salted butter and perhaps a glass of wine.

Cheese scone butter

Blackberry & Lemon Friands

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Blackberries are in season right now and perfect for friands

Blackberry friands

Ingredients:
6 large egg whites/250ml Two Chicks pasteurised egg whites
250g icing/powdered sugar, sieved
130g ground almonds
95g plain flour, sieved
Zest of one un-waxed lemon
160g melted butter
Blackberries – I got giant ones, so used 2-3 per cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter the friand tin

Friands are so easy to make and once you have shelled out for the tin, there are so many variations to make. These can easily be made in a muffin pan too.

Blackberries are in season at the moment and I picked up some huge, absolutely delicious and sweet blackberries on special offer this weekend. The combination of the lemony cake, studded with the big juicy blackberries were a real hit in my house.

Blackberry Friands2

Method:
Briefly whisk the egg whites until broken down and a little frothy, you do not need whip them.

Add the zest, butter, icing sugar and fold in the flour until just combined.

Spoon a little mixture into each hole in the prepared tin and place in a blackberry or two. Cover the berries with the rest of the mixture, divided equally between all the holes and place another blackberry (or two) on the top.

Blackberry Friand2

Bake for around 30 minutes, until they have risen, turned golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to rest for 15 minutes before gently turning out onto a wire cooling rack and dust with icing sugar and a little extra lemon zest if you like.

Blackberry Friand

Gougères

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These tasty little cheesy puffs are a perfect canapé to serve with drinks.

cheesy gougeres

Choux pastry is so easy to make and less likely to go wrong – like some other types of pastry I could mention!

I suppose some people are put off by having to use a piping bag, but if you buy a supply of disposable piping bags, it makes it so easy. I got mine from Amazon – they come on a big roll and will last for ages. However, you can also use two spoons or a small ice cream scoop if you don’t want to bother with a piping bag.

This is a savoury recipe for cheese choux puffs that are absolutely wonderful on their own, served warm with drinks, but so good when filled with something creamy and delicious.

Gougeres

The gougères themselves are made with a generous amount of good quality cheese and a little cayenne and nutmeg, which I think makes all the difference to the taste.

The gougères can easily be made ahead, frozen and warmed through before you want to serve them.

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
250ml/9floz water
150g Plain/all-purpose flour
160g grated Gruyère cheese, plus extra for the top
110g butter – diced
1tsp salt
¼tsp cayenne pepper
¼tsp grated fresh nutmeg
1 egg plus a little milk to make an egg wash

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200°/400°F and prepare a lined baking sheet

Add the water and butter together in the pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and dump in the four all in one go.

Beat together until fully incorporated and coming away from the sides of the pan.

Empty the mixture into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Beat for a minute to cool the mixture slightly before adding the eggs.

Add the eggs one at a time, madding sure each one is fully mixed in before adding the next one.

Add the cayenne and nutmeg and then the cheese, mixing until smooth.

Put the dough into a piping bag with a wide tip, or you can just cut the end off the disposable bag.

Pipe little mounds onto the lined baking sheet, using a wet fingertip to smooth away any points. For bite-sized gougères, they should be about the size of a cherry tomato, but you can make any size you like! Leave a gap of around 2 inches between each one to allow them space to puff up and out.

Very lightly brush each one with a little of the egg wash and top with extra cheese that has been finely grated. I use a microplane to grate a little cheese for the top, so it is super fine.

Cheese gougere close up

Bake for around 20 minutes, or until they are golden, well puffed up and light to the touch. They will deflate again if they are not cooked enough and need a few more minutes.

Gougere half

Serve warm from the oven with drinks.