Wild Garlic and Cheese Scones
Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) can be a little bit like one of Africa’s big-five in wild food circles, a species which can become a part of the ordinary for those with a patch nearby, but a thing of wonder to those who have to travel to find it. I find myself somewhere in between, it grows in abundance near us and every year I make several trips out to collect different stages of the growth to use fresh or preserve by drying, pickling, fermenting and freezing.
The recipe below is a version of Wild Garlic and Cheese Scones, it only needs a few handfuls of Wild Garlic as the cheese really brings out the flavour so you are left with plenty more for other dishes!
Ingredients
- 225g Self-Raising Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 50g Salted Butter - fridge cold and cut into rough cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt - optional
- 50g (several handfuls) Wild Garlic leaves - finely chopped
- 100g Cheese - grated as finely as you can
- 1 large Egg
- Milk
Method
Pre-heat oven to 220c / 200c fan / 450 F / gas mark 7
Grease and flour a baking tray
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, add the butter and rub in to combine and form a breadcrumb texture.
- Add the grated cheese and finely chopped wild garlic and give it a stir to mix it all together.
- Add the egg to a well in the centre and use a spoon to roughly combine.
- Add milk a little at a time, stirring to fully combine after each addition until you have added enough to form a soft dough. I find it easiest to use my hands to combine it at this stage.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead softly to ensure the dough has all combined, gently press out until you have a flat dough of about 2cm depth.
- Use a pastry/cookie cutter around 5cm across to cut out the scones or cut up with a knife into squares of this size and place on your tray.
- Brush the tops with milk before putting in the oven.
- Bake the scones for 10-15 minutes or until evenly golden brown on top, place on a wire rack to cool and try not to eat them all whilst still warm!
These scones can be eaten cold or reheated gently in a medium oven, usually with lashings of butter or accompanying soup.