Kokova Magazine

If you prefer you can use whole milk for this recipe, but you'll only need about 120ml.

Prep: 10 mins Cooking: 15-20 mins Makes 9

Per scone: 172 calories, 8.0g fat, 4.8g saturates, 0.98g salt.

Ingredients

• 100g watercress
• 225g self raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mustard powder (optional)
• a pinch of salt
• 50g butter, cubed
• 75g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
• 200ml buttermilk plus a little for brushing the tops
• pinch or two of cayenne pepper

Procedure

• Preheat the oven to 220oC/Fan 200oC/ Gas Mark 7.
• Reserve a few small sprigs of watercress to decorate the tops.
• Finely chop the remainder.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and mustard into a large bowl.
• Add the salt and butter, then use your fingertips to rub it into the dry ingredients.
• Stir in the chopped watercress and two thirds of the cheese and mix well.
• Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the buttermilk and mix together with a round bladed knife to form a soft dough.
• Very lightly knead on a floured surface, then use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough to a thickness of 2.5cm.
• Use a 6cm plain round cutter to press out circles of the dough, re-rolling lightly, as necessary. The mixture should make 9 scones.
• Place the scones on an oiled large baking sheet.
• Brush each with a little buttermilk (or milk), top with a sprig of watercress, then scatter over the remaining cheese.
• Dust with a little pinch of cayenne pepper if liked, then bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 mins or until golden on the top.
• Leave to cool on the baking tray for 5 mins before serving warm.