RECIPE: Cheese scones with "jam and cream"

Recently Mark and I went to a chilli festival. There were lots of stalls selling hot spicy food, and lots selling drinks such as chilli beer and chilli vodka, but only one stall selling "ordinary" tea and coffee. And guess which stall had the longest queue? The stall in question had about a dozen different styles of coffee, and all the usual syrups and garnishes, but when it came to tea there was just one rather unenterprising option - a tea bag dunked in a cup of hot water.

And I do love my tea!

Earlier in the year we'd been to a different food festival where there had been a tea tent serving proper sit down tea, served in vintage china pots and with old fashioned tea room music playing, and as we drove home from the chilli festival we talked about how that idea could work with chilli themed food being served alongside the teas.

Just imagine a cake stand piled high with things like bridge rolls topped with avocado, egg and chipotle mayonnaise, mini Yorkshire puds filled with rare roast beef and chilli horseradish,  chocolate chilli cupcakes and lime, coconut and chilli layer cake. Doesn't that sound fun?

But what about that middle tier, the one where we expect to see the scones with jam and cream?

Well, what about cheese scones with chilli jam and sour cream with chives? Having come up with the idea, I just had to see if it worked - and oh boy does it! We've just tucked into some of these and they were delicious.  Note how I have presented one the Devon way and the other the Cornish way, just to prevent arguments!

To make 4 large scones you will need

150g self raising flour
generous pinch each of salt, pepper and dry mustard
25g butter
75g Cheddar cheese, the strongest you have, finely grated
1 large egg
50ml semi skimmed milk
chilli jam (I actually used some of our home made sweet chilli sauce that had come out a bit thicker than usual)
1 small carton sour cream
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives.

Set the oven to 200C (180 fan, 400F, gas mark 6) and grease or line a baking sheet.
Beat the egg and milk together and set aside
Sift the flour, salt and mustard together then rub in the butter. Stir in the cheese, keeping aside a little to top the scones, then add about two thirds of the egg and milk mixture and knead lightly to make a soft dough. Add more of the mixture if needed but keep a little back for brushing the tops.

Roll or pat out to around 1.5 cm thick and cut into four equal scones. Place on the baking sheet, brush with the reserved liquid and sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until risen and golden. Cool slightly on a wire rack.

While they are baking, mix together the sour cream and chives.
Serve the scones while still warm, accompanied by the sour cream and chilli jam.