Food

What makes a great cheese scone?

13:25 pm on 12 April 2023

When Ruth Trevella started cooking 30 years ago "it was all about muffins". Now Kiwis are all about cheese scones.

At Christchurch Library's Foundation Café, which Ruth co-owns, they sometimes sell 150 of their famous scones on a busy day.

Photo: Pravda Cafe, Wellington

Ruth thinks sugar avoidance might be part of New Zealand's insatiable hunger for cheese scones.

"It's definitely a comfort food… we're all afraid of eating too much sugar these days so a cheese scone is something we feel like we are allowed to have with a coffee, it's not a big deal."

Foundation Cafe's signature scones – which sell for $6 – are made with buttermilk instead of milk and steam-baked, Ruth says.

"The sensation of our scones is in the crispiness of the outside and the fluffiness and the cheesiness of the inside. We achieve this by using a lot of parmesan and tasty cheddar," she tells Charlotte Ryan.

Foundation Cafe staff are happy to jazz up their cheese scones, too - some people like to add jalapenos, bacon and extra cheese.

Listen to Ruth Trevella on Afternoons

Listen - How to make a fabulous cheese scone

Recipes from the RNZ collection:

The Lightest and Fluffiest Cheese Scones

Classic Cheese Scones 

Cheese and Garlic Scones

Keto Cheese Scones 

Blue Vein Scones