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Nicola Lamb’s flaky cheese and pickle scones
- Published: 7 Jun 24
- Updated: 8 Jul 24
These light, layered savoury cheese scones from expert pastry chef Nicola Lamb are richly flavoured with mature cheddar and studded wirth chunks of tangy gherkin, adding a refreshing piquant crunch.
![Nicola Lamb’s flaky cheese and pickle scones](https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/182_230202_SIFT_D7_XXLScones_024-768x961.jpg)
Nicola says: “The cheese scone is given the flaky treatment. The addition of rye flour and pickle chunks in the layers gives these scones a deli sandwich energy that would be welcome at any picnic. Working fast and having a light touch here is key for the flakiest scones possible.” See more of Nicola’s top tips for savoury scone perfection below.
Recipe taken from Sift by Nicola Lamb (Ebury Press £30) and tested by delicious.
Looking for a traditional scone? Try these easy cheese and herb ones.
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Makes 6
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Hands-on time 20 min, plus at least 15 min resting. Oven time 17-25 min, plus cooling
Before you start
Nicola says, “Get everything cold – and I mean cold. If you have time, put your dry ingredients in the freezer for 20 minutes before mixing. Also, your butter must be fridge-cold and firm to the touch.”
Ingredients
- 210g plain flour
- 30g dark rye flour
- 10g baking powder
- 4g sea salt flakes
- 2g freshly ground black pepper
- 100g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
- 110g unsalted butter, chilled
- 75g pickled gherkins, drained and chopped
- 120g buttermilk
- 2 medium free-range eggs, whisked with 1g fine salt (see Nicola’s tips, below)
Method
- Add both flours, the baking powder, salt, pepper and half the grated cheddar to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Cut the butter into 2cm cubes, then add to the dry ingredients along with the gherkins. Use the stand mixer or your fingertips to work the butter into the flour for 30 seconds or so. Only go so far that the butter is in irregular-size pieces. You need some larger bits of butter to get the layers later.
- Add the buttermilk in a steady stream until the dough is looking just hydrated – there can still be dry bits. Tip onto a clean surface and push the dough together, scraping all the dry bits into the middle. Roll out to approximately 40cm long, sprinkle with half the leftover cheese and perform a ‘single fold’ – that’s when you fold the top third over the middle third and then the bottom third over them both (like a letter).
- Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll to 40cm long, then sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and perform another single fold. Pat the dough into a rectangle around 2.5cm-3cm thick. Trim the edges (see tips, below; you can bake these as snack scraps if you like) and pat down slightly to get the dough back into proportion. Cut into 6 large squares, then put on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Put the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes or the fridge for 45 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 200°C fan/gas 7. Gently brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash (see Tips). Bake for 12-15 minutes (watch the colour), then turn the oven down to 170°C fan/gas 5 and bake for 5-10 minutes more until the scones are golden and well baked. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool, then serve warm.
- Recipe from June 2024 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 365kcals
- Fat
- 22g (13g saturated)
- Protein
- 9.9g
- Carbohydrates
- 31g (1.9g sugars)
- Fibre
- 2.5g
- Salt
- 1.7g
delicious. tips
Nicola’s tips
• To get the best layers possible, when folding, use a knife or bench scraper to cut the folded edges.
• For the best egg wash, whisk the eggs and salt together at least 20 minutes before using. The salt helps to break down the eggs, making them more liquid and easier to brush on. Egg wash can be made up to 3 days in advance and kept covered in the fridge.
• If you don’t have buttermilk, mix 115g whole milk with 5g white wine vinegar, then leave in the fridge for about 5 minutes to curdle. It will appear thickened but a bit split.
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