Cheese scones with watercress and goat’s cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7. Lightly grease a non-stick baking sheet with butter.
2. Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder, mustard powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Add the diced butter and process into very fine crumbs. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and stir in 100g of the grated Cheddar.
3. Break the egg into a measuring jug, add the soured cream and make up to 150ml with the milk. Beat together well.
4. Pour all but 2 tsp of the egg, soured cream and milk mixture into the dry ingredients, mix briefly with a round-bladed knife and bring together with your hands to make a soft dough, taking care not to over-mix it. Tip the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and knead very lightly and very briefly until just smooth.
5. Lightly roll out the dough until it is 1.5cm thick. Dip a 7cm plain pastry cutter into some flour, and use to cut out 8 rounds, gently re-kneading the trimmings together and re-rolling as you go.
6. Place the scones spaced apart on the baking sheet, brush with the rest of the egg and milk mixture and sprinkle the tops with the remaining grated cheese. Bake the scones for 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven, slide onto a wire rack and leave to cool a little.
7. To serve, split the scones in half, then spread the bottom half generously with the goat’s cheese. Top with a generous amount of watercress, then the top half of the scone, and eat straight away.