Who loves a benedict?

You know what I mean, an English muffin split, toasted and topped traditionally with ham or bacon, a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

These days there are many variations to suit everyone so here's my take, from the bottom upwards and since it isn't a benedict it needs a name of its own – a scone stack seems appropriate.

Instead of using an English muffin use a buttermilk cheese scone, sliced in half, warmed and buttered. Add a generous slice of smoked salmon, followed by a poached egg, complete with a generous drizzle of mornay sauce and garnish with finely chopped spring onion.

You don't have to struggle with poached eggs if they scare the pants off you – have scrambled instead.

You don't have to struggle with a classic Hollandaise sauce if it too scares the pants off you – make a mornay sauce instead – far easier and, in my opinion, much tastier. A mornay sauce freezes well and all that's required is defrosting and then warming through on the hob – not in a microwave – avoids any possibility of splitting.

Already you have two elements of the dish in the freezer – the scones and the sauce. You can freeze smoked salmon too!

Back to the scone and the English muffin and a little help. The average size of a muffin is 3-4” (8cms/10cms) diameter x 1” (2.5cms) high.

The test batch of scones I made measured 2½“ (6.5cms) x 1½” (4cms) high. Here's an idea – you could make a batch using a larger, straight sided cutter and thus make bigger scones – up the size of the cutter to 3” (8cms) approx, so as to create a more substantial portion. There's no need to waste the test batch – just serve two halves, two slices of salmon, two poached eggs or scrambled.

Here's a tip – if the tops of your scones are uneven, slice the uneven top so that it'll sit flat.

Scone stack photos coming next!