There's not much of a story here for how these came about. I wanted to make scones, having started to eat LOTS of cheese recently I thought I would make some cheese scones rather than sweeter ones for a change. I think I'd had some toast with marmite that morning and thought why not add marmite to the mix rather than just spreading it on top after they're made. One thing I will say, despite how simple/obvious marmite milk is, I think I'm going to have to incorporate it more in baking as it does make a difference. Cereal milk, marmite milk. Flavoured milk needs to be used more.
Having made batches of rough puff pastry recently and had periods of heat waves I decided to handle the dough as little as possible and mix most of it using a knife. You could always make the dough in a food processor if you don't want the arm workout, otherwise you could rub the butter into the dough. It's up to you. As for what cheese you use, I had a mix of Cheddar and Red Leicester n the fridge and so went with them. Obviously a harder cheese would be better but I'd be keen to see what a Cheddar and Goat's Cheese scone would be like...hmm....
Makes approx 8 (largish)
Hands-on Time 20 minutes
Baking Time 14 minutes
Ingredients
155ml Milk
1 tbsp Marmite
160g Cheese
300g Plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp Mustard powder
3 tsp Baking powder
70g Unsalted butter (cubed and chilled)
1 Egg, medium
Equipment
Jug
Spoon
Coarse grater
Plate
Bowl
Sharp knife
Rolling pin
Small bowl
Pastry brush
Baking sheet
Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C(Fan)/410°F/Gas mark 6.
Combine the milk and marmite in a jug until it resembles a runny caramel.
Grate the cheese over a plate.
Add the flour, salt, mustard, and baking powder to a bowl and stir using the blade of the knife.
Add the cubed butter and draw the blade through the butter and flour until it breaks up into tiny specks and is evenly distributed.
Add 140 millilitres of the marmite milk and stir a little using the blade before repeatedly drawing the knife towards you through the marmite milk sodden flour. Spin the bowl around a little and keep repeating these actions until most of the flour is combined into the dough.
Add 120 grams of grated cheese and repeat the drawing motions with the knife until you have a golden speckled dough.
Flour the worktop and tip the dough out onto it.
Flour the top of the dough and roll out into a rough circle. The dough should be 2cm thick. Try not to handle the dough too much.
Using a clean knife, divide the circle into 8 segments, like a pizza.
Slide them onto the baking sheet, spaced apart.
Break the egg into a small bowl and mix using a pastry brush.
Brush the scones with the egg before scattering the remaining grated cheese over their glazed tops.
Pop the sheet into the oven on a middle shelf for 14 minutes until the cheese has melted and the scones are golden.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool before tucking in.
Enjoy!
