The cheese scones are an extremely popular baked item at Wellington's Pravda Cafe.
Not only are the scones in demand, but people have been signing up to Cheese Scone classes at Wellington on a Plate.
Pravda chef, Ash Tapsell tells Kathryn Ryan what makes their cheese scones so moreish.
Photo: Pravda Cafe, Wellington
Caring for the dough is what makes the scones special, he says.
“A lot of tending to the dough, a lot of using your butter, folding it in, kind of massaging and making that dough nice. And then obviously knowing your oven.
“We've been doing it for decades. So, we trust our equipment. But getting those thermometers out, making sure everything's up to scratch is a big thing at home.”
The oven should be 180 degrees, he says, and the ingredients are simple.
“We don't use a lot of flour, we only use self-raising flour, which means we don't use baking powder or anything like that as well. It's all in the flour. It just means that we don't have to work the dough as much as you would with a flour.”
Other than that, it is “cheese, milk, butter - a lot of a lot of each,” he says.
“And that's probably why a lot of people come back for more because it's all the good stuff that you feel guilty about eating.”
To do the mix, get your hands in, Tapsell says.
“We're just folding it, folding the ingredients in together really, we don't want to overwork the dough would probably be the best way to explain it. We just want to just get them mixed up and let it relax a little bit.”
Rather than cut into shapes, Pravda weighs each portion and rolls into a ball, he says, giving them a more consistent bake.
And they use regular supermarket cheese, he says.
We use tasty cheese, pre-graded, we don't go out and buy any special cheese that only chefs can get, it's just what you get at the supermarket. “
They bake in the oven for just over 15 minutes Tapsell says.
If your scones come out a bit doughy, you’ve over-loved the dough pre-bake, he says.
“Just keep it nice and light, that's why we roll our scones as well, it's a rolling, not a moulding and we let it relax.”
