Dorchester Scone Ring
This Dorchester Scone Ring recipe comes from the town of Dorchester, a historic market town in the county of Dorset, southern England – it is noted as being the home (and inspiration) to the author Thomas Hardy, whose novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge were both based on Dorchester. This scone ring, made with wholemeal flour and cheese, is a lovely savoury dish, and is very pretty looking when baked.
Dorchester Scone Ring Recipe
Recipe Ingredients:
- 230g wholewheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp English mustard powder
- 70g butter, softened
- 140g Cheddar Cheese (grated small)
- 150ml milk
- 1 egg, beaten for a glaze
- 2 tsp of poppy seeds
Recipe Method:
Into a mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder, sea salt and English mustard powder. Rub the softened butter with your fingers into the flour and dry ingredients to make it resemble fine breadcrumbs.
Add the grated Cheddar Cheese (reserve a small amount of cheese for the end) and enough milk to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl so that it becomes a soft pliable dough when brought together with a wooden spoon.
Turn this soft, pliable dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and very gently knead it for a minute, making sure everything is mixed together thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 200C and lightly grease a baking sheet with butter.
Then roll the dough out to about 2 cm (1/2 inch) thickness and cut into 8 round scones using a 5cm pastry cutter (gather in and re-roll the dough when necessary) – place the rounds on the prepared greased baking sheet.
When all 8 scones are cut out rearrange them into a circle, with each scone slightly overlapping the last one.
Brush the Dorchester Scone Ring all over with the beaten egg, sprinkle over the small amount of reserved cheese and the poppy seeds.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the scone ring is golden brown. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Serve the Dorchester Scone Ring to be broken apart, split and buttered.
