It's always handy to be able to whip up a batch of scones for unexpected guests or for hungry children home from school or sport. This recipe made the most of the rosemary, chives and parsley growing in the garden. Scones are also a fun recipe to make with children and in the Kitchen Garden at school, They enthusiastically mixed the dough, cut the shapes and tucked into the warm scones at the end of the lesson.

Makes 18 scones

2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
½ tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g (2oz) butter, cubed
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese or 2/3 cup tasty cheese
1–1¼ cups milk
½ tsp poppy seeds

Parsley ricotta cream
125g (4oz) ricotta cheese
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220ºC (450ºF) and line an oven tray with baking paper.
Sift the flours into a large bowl. (If there is any bran left in the strainer tip this into the bowl also). Mix in the salt and pepper. Place the butter in flour bowl and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it looks like sand. Add the rosemary and cheese to the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Pour in 1 cup milk and use a flat-bladed knife to mix milk and flour together. Use your hands to form a dough and knead in the bowl a few times. You may need to add a little more milk so that all the flour is mixed in.

Place the dough onto a sheet of baking paper and use your fingers to pat into about a 21cm (8–9in) round (about 1½cm/¾in thick). Use a 5cm (2in) diameter round cutter (dipped in flour to stop it from sticking) to cut into rounds. Place the rounds on to the oven tray close together. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle over the poppy seeds.

Bake scones for about 12 minutes or until they have risen and are golden on top. Remove from oven. Serve warm and whole or split in half and spread with parsley ricotta cream.

For the parsley ricotta cream:

Place ricotta in bowl and mash with a fork to break it up. Add parsley, chives and lemon juice to ricotta and stir with a spoon until combined. Spread on halved scones.