Crunchy Citrus Ricotta Scones

This month's theme for Teatime treats is Scones which is quite fortunate as scones are one of my all time favourite things...give me an afternoon tea with jam, clotted cream and a cuppa and I'm happy...incidentally the scones have to be fruit but that's another story! However, it would be a fairly boring challenge if everybody made run of the mill scones...we were encouraged by the teatime treats hosts, Lavender and Lovage and What Kate Baked, to think about slightly more unusual offerings.

I didn't go as far as savoury scones as I'm all about the sweet things in life but I did make a slightly unusual crunchy citrus scone with the main ingredient being ricotta cheese. Sounds like a very strange combination but I can confirm that they were indeed crunchy and citrusy...with no hint of the ricotta! The recipe also produced a scone round as opposed to individual scones. The crunchy part comes from a liberal sprinkling of demerara sugar on top before baking.

Although, these scones won't be winning any beauty contests they tasted pretty darn good, especially whilst still warm and with a little lemon curd....so who cares! :-)

Ingredients



175g ricotta

Zest of 1 orange - finely grated

100g golden caster sugar

200g self-raising flour

50g  butter
1-2 tbsp milk
1tbsp demerara sugar

Heat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. Mix the ricotta, orange zest and half the caster sugar in a bowl until well combined. In another bowl, sift the flour and add the other half of the caster sugar, finally add the butter which should be cut into small cubes. You should then rub this flour mixture together until it resembles fine bread crumbs.

Add the ricotta mixture to your flour mix and bring it together to form a dough, you can add the milk at this stage if necessary but be careful not to make the dough too sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a couple of times, so it is not so craggy but don't over knead. The dough should then be pressed out to a depth of 4cm and form it into a neat round.

Then using a knife mark 6 wedges across the top. Finally, brush the scone with milk and if necessary sprinkle a little flour on top before sprinkling over demerara sugar to give the crunchy top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until brown on top.

These scones taste delicious warm and served with a little lemon curd. Enjoy!

* Adapted from BBC GoodFood