I was always mystified when my mum used to make these cheese scones of a Sunday afternoon.  Why were they triangular, when all scones I’d seen before were round?  And should a scone be savoury?  My mother was probably equally bewildered by my eating habits, as I always ate my scones plain with neither jam nor butter.  I’ve always had very strict guidelines on which foods I will allow to come into contact with each other – anyone who makes me a full English breakfast has to plate up very carefully, because if the beans and eggs meet, the world will surely end.  Nutella can be used in baking or eaten from the jar, but cannot be spread on anything.  And jam and peanut butter were sent by the devil and to put them on bread would be obscene.  My hatred of jam has lessened now – my mum was actually amazed to see that I’d used it in my Victoria sponge – and I’ve even come round to the idea of butter on scones.  A nice warm cheese scone sliced in half and slathered with butter – the perfect snack!

Cheese Scones

From The Be-Ro Book, makes 6-8

Ingredients:

175g self raising flour

pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 tsp mustard

25g butter, cubed

75g cheese, grated

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2.  Mix the flour, salt, pepper and mustard together in a bowl.

3.  Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

4.  Stir in the grated cheese, reserving a little for the top.

5.  Beat together the egg and milk.  Pour onto the dry ingredients, reserving a little for the top.

6.  Bring it together with your hands to form a ball of slightly sticky dough.

7.  On a lightly floured surface, roll or pat the dough down to a circle about 1.5cm thick.  Cut into 6 or 8 triangles.

8.  Place on a baking tray and brush with the remaining egg and milk, and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

9.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.