These Gruyere and ham scones might make you fall in love at first bite

At the risk of sounding unromantic, I’ve never experienced love at first sight. Love at first bite, though? That’s another story. The latest object of my gustatory affection: a savory scone studded with country ham, pungent cheese and scallions, and topped with sesame seeds and flaky sea salt.

I first encountered this scone at Little Egg, a tiny-but-mighty breakfast and lunch restaurant from chef Evan Hanczor of Egg, the wildly popular Williamsburg, Brooklyn, eatery that closed during the pandemic and re-hatched with a new name last spring.

The scone is the handiwork of pastry chef Tanya Bush, who is just 27 and preternaturally talented, considering she has only four years of professional baking experience under her belt. She comes up with beguiling flavor combinations, such as slab almond cake with vanilla custard, sour cherry compote and salty cream cheese frosting. Her Cara Cara orange olive oil cake is so generously garnished with poppy seeds, that you get an audible (pleasant) crunch with every forkful. Grub Street called her sublime cruller one of New York’s most coveted pastries.

But it’s Bush’s scones that stole my heart and caused many months of taste memory obsession. And it’s because of how unusual they are.

When I asked Bush about the inspiration behind the bake, she wrote in an email that the scone is “a classic pastry with Southern flair … a decadent, nutty wonder with an extravagant fat content, toeing that nebulous line between traditional scone and biscuit.”

If traditional scones and southern ham biscuits got together, Bush’s scones would be their progeny. They have a deeply umami taste, aided by ham, scallions and cheese. (At Little Egg, Bush uses Calderwood cheese, which is sold exclusively by Saxelby Cheesemongers, but I substituted Gruyere for easier availability.) The sesame seeds and flaky salt on top add a burst of salinity and crunch. The scones are best eaten warm, fresh from the oven, when they are most tender.

After Bush shared her recipe with me, I immediately got to work simplifying it for the home cook. Instead of hand-chopping the ham and cheese, I pulsed them in the food processor. And while that left me with a few more dishes to clean, I managed to do the chopping of both ingredients in less than three minutes — tasks that would have taken me considerably longer to do by hand — which means it took me very little time to throw the dough together.

At Little Egg, the scones are adorably squat in their hockey puck-like shape, seeming more like biscuits and less scone-like in lack of scraggly-ness. While it’s no big deal if they spread out in your oven — they’ll still taste amazing — I wanted to crack the code on their shape. The trick, I discovered, was to thoroughly chill the scones before the final shaping, egg wash and baking.

Since we’re a household of three people — and my son refuses to eat anything with Gruyere — baking more than four scones at a time is an overkill. But! Good news! The scones are also a dream to freeze. Shape them, flash-freeze them on a sheet pan, then transfer to a lidded container or zip-top bag and freeze until needed. When ready to bake, let the scones sit on the counter while the oven preheats, then glaze with the egg wash and bake. Keeping some unbaked scones in the freezer makes quick work for an impromptu brunch or a last-minute afternoon tea.

In addition to making spectacular pastries at the restaurant, Bush is also a co-founder of Cake Zine, an independent print magazine that explores society and culture through sweets; and the pastry chef for Tables of Contents, a creative salon celebrating books, art, music and culture. And if that weren’t enough, Bush is also at work on what she calls a “literary cookbook that brings together narrative with recipe-writing.”

With her involvement in so many projects at once, I asked Bush where she finds inspiration. “I am inspired by bakers who are playful and collaborative in their pastry making. … I find my main source of inspiration these days through the collaborative dessert program I run Sundays and Mondays at Little Egg. It’s such a privilege to team up with other New York-based pastry chefs, to experiment together and bring an abstract idea to the plate,” Bush wrote. She cites pastry chefs Kaitlyn Wong and Zoë Kanan, as well as Ham El-Waylly, as people she continues to learn from.

I can’t wait to see what Bush bakes up next.

Scones With Gruyere and Country Ham

Bush, the pastry chef at Little Egg restaurant in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood, uses locally milled flour, which gives it a nutty note, but for home cooks, Bush suggests swapping out a little all-purpose flour with whole-wheat, as we did below. Bush also recommends pulsing the cheese in the food processor — the irregular bits spread throughout the dough and melt seamlessly. We used a mini food processor for ease of cleanup and found that pulsing the ham as well delivered terrific results in less time. (If you prefer to dirty just one appliance, you can hand-chop the cheese and ham instead, but it will take longer.) For best results, use plain country ham — not Black Forest or honey-glazed — but if that’s all you can find, the scones will still taste delicious.

Notes: The easiest way to cube your butter is to use a bench scraper — not your knife — for cutting. Cut the stick of butter in half lengthwise; rotate a quarter turn and cut lengthwise again. You should have 4 narrow batons of butter stacked in 2x2 arrangement. Cut across the batons with a bench scraper to get 1/2-inch cubes.

Substitutions: Instead of Gruyere, try a sharp Cheddar, Comté or fontina. No scallions? Use chives or Chinese chives.

Make ahead: The scones can be prepared up until the egg wash step and refrigerated, well-covered, for up to 1 day or frozen for up to 1 month. To freeze, place the scones on a sheet pan and freeze until solid, then transfer to an airtight container. If baking from frozen, let the scones sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, then brush with the egg wash, and bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 37 minutes.

Where to buy: The scones are best when still slightly warm, but can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. If storing, they taste better after being gently reheated in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes.

8 1/4 ounces (250 grams) Gruyère cheese

5 1/4 ounces (150 grams) country ham

3 1/2 cups (440 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (30 grams) whole-wheat flour

Scant 1/4 cup (40 grams) granulated sugar

4 teaspoons (16 grams) baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine salt

18 tablespoons (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons/255 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (see notes)

1 1/4 cups (300 grams) cold, well-shaken buttermilk, preferably full-fat

1/2 cup (55 grams) finely chopped scallions (4 to 6 scallions)

1 large egg

1/2 tablespoon heavy cream

Sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.

Cut the cheese and ham into large chunks and pulse each in a mini food processor — in batches as needed — until finely chopped. Transfer each pulsed batch to a medium bowl; you can combine the cheese and the ham in the same bowl. (Alternatively, you can finely hand-chop both ingredients.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt just to combine. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter chunks are pea-size, 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture will look sandy, but still have lots of loose flour and will not yet look like dough. Pinch a buttery piece with your fingers — it should hold together.

Make a well in the center of the mixture so you can see the bottom of the bowl, and pour in the buttermilk. Mix on low just to combine, stopping the mixer once or twice and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate the dry ingredients. Add the Gruyère, ham and scallions and mix on low just to combine, being careful not to overmix. The dough will be rough, shaggy and fairly sticky — and will come together as you shape the scones.

Using a No. 8 (4-ounce/120-milliliter) disher or 1/2-cup measuring cup, scoop packed portions of dough and arrange them on the prepared sheet pans. Using your hands, shape each mound into 2-inch-tall cylinders, roughly the size of a lemon; each should weigh about 130 grams. (Work quickly so as not to warm up the butter. If you find that your scooped scones are too sticky/soft to work with, refrigerate the portions for 15 to 30 minutes, or until firmed up, then shape them into cylinders as instructed above.)

Transfer the pans to the refrigerator for 15 minutes to let the scones firm up and help them keep their shape (no need to do this if you had to refrigerate them before shaping). Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg with cream until well combined.

Generously brush each chilled scone all over with the egg wash. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds and a bit of flaky salt. Bake one sheet at a time — keep the other sheet in the refrigerator — for 30 to 33 minutes, or until deep golden brown and glossy, rotating the sheet front to back at the 15-minute mark. (You may see some fat pooling around the scones as they bake; this is OK.)

Remove from the oven and let the scones cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Repeat with the remaining scones.

Serves 12 (makes 12 scones)

Nutritional information per serving (1 scone): 338 calories, 26 g fat, 16 g saturated fat, 14 g carbohydrates, 777 mg sodium, 102 mg cholesterol, 12 g protein, 1 g fiber, 5 g sugar

— Adapted from Tanya Bush, pastry chef of Little Egg in Brooklyn.