Recipe | Wild Garlic & Goat's Cheese Savoury Scones

Easy peasy and very cheesy. Slather with too much butter and dip into your hot soup.

Makes 9

350g strong bread flour

½ tsp salt

3½ tsp baking powder

100g unsalted butter, cut into

small cubes

150g goat’s cheese

50g wild garlic, chopped, saving

9 leaves for decoration

90ml milk

100ml double cream

1 egg (beaten)

To make

1 Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan 170C/Gas 5. Place the flour, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mix with your fingers until it has a breadcrumb-like consistency.

2 Break the goat’s cheese into small pieces and stir gently into the mix.

3 Finely chop the wild garlic and place in a bowl along with the milk and cream. Gently blend the wet and dry ingredients together to form a dough.

4 Lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough into a square roughly 3cm thick, cutting it into 9 square-ish scones. Gently press one wild garlic leaf into the top of each scone and brush with the beaten egg.

5 Bake for 15–20 mins, or until golden brown, and cool on a wire rack before serving with lashings of butter.

These very moreish scones are just one of the recipes from our ‘gathering’ feature, Turning A New Leaf from our April issue, with recipes by Kay Prestney and photography by Rebecca Lewis. It’s bursting with wild garlic recipes for spring - just add friends and a foraging bag.

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More ways with wild garlic…

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Recipe | Tattie Scones

Comforting for a hearty breakfast and delicious with a bowl of cullen skink to start a Burns’ Night supper

These scones are made from mashed tatties (potatoes) so are a great way to use up leftovers. They’re part of our Burns’ Night supper Gathering feature in our January issue. You can find the rest of the recipes, including cullen skink, a haggis pie and citrus cranachan… all washed down with a Rusty Nail.

Makes 16

450g potatoes, peeled and diced
60g butter, plus more for greasing
½ tsp salt
125g plain flour, plus more for rolling
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp baking powder

1 Boil your potatoes in salted boiling water for 15 mins, or until tender. Drain and set aside.
2 Preheat the oven to 200C/ Fan 180C/Gas 6. Return the potatoes to the pan and add half the butter, plus salt and pepper to taste. Mash well. When cool, add the rest of the butter, salt, plain flour, whisked egg and baking powder to the mashed potato mix and stir well until the mixture forms a dough.
3 On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 1cm thick. Using a 5cm cutter, cut out around 16 scones.
4 Transfer to a lined and greased baking sheet. Using a table knife, score a cross into the top of each scone. Bake for 20-25 mins, or until golden brown. Serve hot or allow to cool on the baking sheet until needed.

More from our January issue…

More Burns’ Night inspiration…

Recipe | Dark chocolate chip scones

Afternoon tea is brazenly frivolous. Not only does it flagrantly flout traditional meal times, but also its ingredients read like a roll-call of treats: fizz, finger sandwiches, elegant tarts and cream-laden cakes. Modern treats, too. This menu of cardamom cake, spiced crab sandwiches and chocolate-pimped scones is moreish, memorable and anything but chintzy.

Why have fruit scones when you can have chocolate!

Dark chocolate chip scones

Makes 8 scones

350g plain flour
A pinch of sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
85g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
3 tbsp caster sugar
75g dark chocolate, finely chopped
175ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 beaten egg, to glaze

1 Preheat oven to 220C/Fan 200C/ 425F. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the butter. Rub it in with your fingers until the mix resembles fine crumbs. Fold in the sugar and chopped chocolate.
2 Gently warm the milk until warm but not hot. Add the vanilla (if using) and lemon juice. Set aside for a moment. Put a baking sheet in the oven.
3 Make a well in the dry mix and add the warmed milk. Combine it quickly with a cutlery knife – it will seem pretty wet at first. Scatter some flour on a clean work surface. Tip the dough out.
4 Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour. Fold the dough over 2–3 times until it’s a little smoother. Pat into a round, about 4cm thick.
5 Dip a 5cm cutter (smooth-edged cutters tend to cut more cleanly, giving a better rise) into some flour. Plunge into the dough. Repeat until you have four scones. Press what’s left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and transfer carefully onto the preheated baking tray.
6 Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top. Eat just warm or cold on the day of baking. If freezing, freeze once cool. Defrost, then put in a low oven (about 160C/Fan 140C/ 325F) for a few mins to refresh.

Turn to page 25 of June's The Simple Things for more of our afternoon tea menu, including:

Rhubarb fizz
Curried egg & chive sandwiches
Crab, chilli & fennel sandwiches
Broad bean, goat’s curd & mint open sandwiches
Jammy raspberries
Cardamom, rose & strawberry cake
Cherry & elderflower cheesecake tartlets
Peachy lemon verbena iced tea

More from the June issue:

More cake recipes:

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View the sampler here

Afternoon Tea Week: Violet scones with honeyed cream recipe

Celebrate Afternoon Tea Week 2015 with a recipe for Violet scones with honeyed cream

Parma Violets can taste soapy, but violet flowers, used sparingly and baked, are far subtler.
The honeyed cream is what provides the real sweetness here. It’s thick and indulgent and removes the need for jam or butter, although a dollop of lemon curd goes well if you have a really sweet tooth. If you don’t have violets, use lavender, rosemary or rose petals.

Makes 12 scones

50g butter, plus extra for greasing
225g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
25g sugar
150ml milk, plus extra for glazing 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 violet flowers, chopped, plus extra for serving
100g clotted cream
2 tbsp runny honey

1 Preheat the oven to 225C/Fan 205/435F and grease and line a large baking tray. In a food processor, mix together flour, butter and sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and beat to a stiff dough. Add the violets and give a final few pulses of the processor to combine them into the mixture.

2 Lightly dust your worktop with flour, and place the dough in the middle, sprinkling a little flour over the top. Roll out the dough to about 2cm thick. Take a 5cm round cutter and cut out discs, placing them on the baking tray. Roll the leftover dough out again and cut out more rounds, repeating until the dough is used. Try not to roll the dough too many times as this will lead to tough scones. Brush the top of each with a dab of milk and place the tray in the oven for 12-15 mins until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

3 Just before serving, put the cream in a bowl and fold in the honey – you want a ripple effect – and top with a few violet petals. Cut the scones and spread a bit of cream on top.

Recipes from The Herb & Flower Cookbook: Plant, Grow and Eat by Pip McCormac (Quadrille). Photography by Yuki Sugiura 

And if you're inspired to eat more flowers, head to our Petal Power Pinterest board for a sweet and beautiful selection of ideas:

Follow The Simple Things's board Edible flowers | Petal power on Pinterest.

Read more:

Afternoon tea posts

More from the August 2015 issue

Three more edible flower recipes

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