Ickworth House shares the recipe for its amazing scones

PUBLISHED: 13:20 30 April 2020 | UPDATED: 13:21 30 April 2020

Jayne Lindill

Make these delicious cheese scones, and other baked treats, using National Trust recipes shared by chefs at Ickworth and Dunwich Heath.

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Freshly baked fruit scones are a favourite National Trust chefs' recipe you can make at home.

If you’ve been upping your baking skills during lockdown but you’ve run out of ideas for interesting scones, sponges and savouries, you could turn to the National Trust for inspiration where Suffolk scones and flapjacks are proving a big hit with home bakers.

With the doors to their favourite National Trust properties closed due to Coronavirus, visitors missing the tasty treats served up in the Trust’s on-site cafes and tea shops – such as at Ickworth, Dunwich Heath, Sutton Hoo and Lavenham Guildhall – have instead been visiting the Trust’s website in search of recipes for tea time treats.

Since the country was locked down on March 23, visits to home baking pages have increased by almost 900 per cent compared with the same time last year. Cheese scones, apple and rhubarb crumble and sponge cake top the list of favourites, according to the Trust. Cheese scones are top of the list with more than 54,000 people visiting the page in the first four weeks of lockdown – an increase of 3,009 per cent on last year. Coming in at second place is apple and rhubarb crumble with nearly 15,000 visits (an increase of 581 per cent) and the popular National Trust fruit scone is in third place at almost 10,000 visits (an increase of 737 per cent).

In Suffolk the top five recipes are cheese scones, fruit scones, apple and rhubarb crumble, and flapjacks. Suffolk nature lovers aren’t forgetting their feathered friends either, downloading recipes for home-made fat cake for birds.

Delicious Victoria sponge is one of the favourite recipes for baked treats from National Trust chefs.

Find out how you can help Suffolk’s food businesses during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Matt Drew, the Trust’s head of food and beverage, said: “The lockdown seems to be rekindling our love of baking as more comforting, nostalgic recipes come out on top, with crumbles and sponges taking the place of what some may see as lighter or more contemporary bakes like lemon drizzle and chocolate orange bread twists.

Make the National Trust's apple and rhubarb crumble at home using the recipe shared by their chefs.

“I’ve always believed food is at the heart of relationships and family life, and this huge increase in recipe searches reflects that. With children at home and trips out of the house for essentials only, home baking is a brilliant way of not only keeping us fed, but also having fun and creating joyful memories at a challenging time.

“While we know some ingredients are tricky to get hold of at the moment, like flour and eggs, it’s great to see so many people enjoying their time at home with some traditional baking, and what better thing can there be than the smell of freshly baked cake or scones wafting through your house.”

So, why not get started? Here’s the recipe for Cheese Scones.

Ingredients

450g (16oz) self-raising flour

110g (4oz) margarine

100g (3.5oz) grated mature Cheddar cheese

1tsp salt

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1tsp cracked black pepper

1 egg

150ml (5fl oz) milk

1tsp English mustard

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the flour and margarine in your mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in most of the cheese (leave enough to place grated cheese on top of the scones later), salt and pepper. Mix the egg with three quarters of the milk and the mustard. Pour into the mix and use a spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients keep adding the remaining milk a little at a time until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Divide into two even sized pieces and gently roll into large balls on a lightly floured surface. Flatten them lightly and cut into four by slicing both ways across the middle. Place on your lined baking tray. Divide the remaining cheese and place on the top of the scone and place into the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until risen and golden.

Follow the links to more delicious recipes:

Flapjacks recipe

Ickworth’s lemon and poppy seed scones recipe

Ickworth’s rhubarb and custard scones recipe

Dunwich’s cranberry and orange scones recipe

Ickworth’s summer berries scones recipe

Go to the National Trust’s website to sample even more home baking recipes.

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