Scones

Who doesn’t love a scone? Nothing beats a warm scone for morning or afternoon tea, and they are mandatory if you are hosting a high tea at your house. Once you make them, you’ll want to bake more. They also freeze well.

SCONES

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Makes: 12–15 scones

Ingredients

• 3 cups of self raising flour
• 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
• 40g of unsalted butter, cut into little cubes
• 1 cup of milk
• ½ cup of water (extra may be required)
• extra milk  for brushing

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC / 400ºF / Gas mark 6  fan forced. Line a baking tray or dish with baking/parchment paper.
2. Combine the flour and icing sugar in a large bowl, and then rub the butter through the flour mix.
3. Add the milk and the water (keep a little water aside) and use a knife to cut through the until it forms into a dough.
4. Drop the dough onto a floured surface and then knead gently until smooth. Roll the dough to around 2cm / 1″ thickness. Using a 4cm/1.5″ scone/biscuit cutter, cut out scones and place on the baking tray so they are just touching. Dip the cutter into flour to keep the dough from sticking to it. Roll any remaining dough and cut to size.
5. Brush the tops of the scones with milk, then place the tray in the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until brown. The scones should sound hollow to tap when cooked.
6. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold, with lashings of butter, jam and cream.

TIP
You can make spicy fruit scones by adding some sultanas, mixed spice and ground cinnamon before adding the butter.