The small town cafe that’s becoming famous for its gluten-free cheese scones

Wednesday, 21 May 2025

Dalethorpe House owner Rachel Ferguson is keeping the cafe’s gluten-free cheese scone recipe close to her chest as word gets out her cafe is one of the best stops for the iconic Kiwi snack.

News is spreading that a small town in Selwyn is one of the best spots for a gluten-free cheese scone, with people more than 200km away passing on the hot tip.

Dalethorpe House in Darfield - a one-stop shop for food, gifts and soon to stock local produce - is “most famous” for its gluten-free cheese scones, owner Rachel Ferguson says.

“We always say if you can’t get one before late morning, ring and we’ll put one aside for you.

Customers have to be in early, or phone in to save one, if they want a gluten-free cheese scone in Darfield.

“People come in here because they’ve been told this is where to come for gluten-free scones.”

Word has reached as far as Kaikōura and beyond that the small Selwyn district town is a haven for coeliacs looking for a scone fix.

Ferguson said Dalethorpe House chef and baker Abby Taylor had a funny moment at the Kaikōura information centre, where someone asked if she’d tried the gluten-free cheese scones from her local café - not realising she was the one who made them.

Ferguson took on the cottage’s upstairs gift store in 2019, followed by the cafe in 2023 where Abby Taylor has been the chef for 14 years.

But mum’s the word on the recipe. “We don’t tell, it’s a secret.”

The two-storey white weatherboard cottage with a quaint covered verandah has been a cafe for more than 20 years, and started life as the town’s general store over a century ago.

Ferguson took on the upstairs gift shop in 2019. When the cafe went up for sale in 2021, she saw it as an opportunity to keep it all together, prompting her to buy the business and eventually change the name to Dalethorpe House in 2023 after her husband’s family farm in Russells Flat just outside Sheffield.

Taylor has been a chef at the cafe for 14 years, making a variety of food including baked goods and salads. Ferguson said the Dalethorpe salad was also a “big seller” with topping choices and a “famous beetroot relish and balsamic dressing that people love”.

Dalethorpe House, named after her husband’s family farm in Russells Flat is set to open Darfield Pantry, selling local supplies including flour, honey, eggs and produce.

The pies are exclusive to Dalethorpe House too, made with meat from Ferguson’s farm - and she’s passionate about sharing goods from the farm.

She’s in the process of expanding the cafe to provide a Darfield pantry, stocking it with local flour, eggs, honey and some produce.

“Almost like a general store again, food, drink, giftware.”

*Dalethorpe House is at 51 South Tce, Darfield.