Wheaten scones with comté and pickled walnuts

Method

1. Make sure all your scone ingredients (everything except the comté cheese and the walnuts) are weighed and ready to go before you start. Combine both flours, the bicarb and salt in a large mixing bowl. Take the cold butter and grate it coarsely on a box grater into the bowl (see know how), then toss to coat well in the flour mixture.

2. Make a well in the middle, then add the golden syrup and pour in the buttermilk. Use a table knife to cut, rather than stir, the ingredients together until they form a shaggy, crumbly dough. Turn it out onto a floured surface and bring together the dough by pressing and folding the straggly crumbly bits together. After only a few folds and flips it will be just about homogenous – don’t knead it! You should still be able to see flakes of butter.

3. Roll out the dough into a 1cm thick square, then cut out 6-8 scones using the round cutter. You may need to re-roll for the last one or two. Line 2 baking trays, arrange the scones on them, leaving plenty of space between, then chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

4. Heat the oven to 210°C/ 190°C fan/gas 6½. Bake the scones for 20 minutes, rotating the trays after 15 minutes for even browning. Transfer the hot scones to a wire rack to cool. Serve with plenty of butter, alongside slices of comté and the pickled walnuts.