Scones

This recipe makes around 7 scones. It has been derived from the following two recipes:

• BBC Good Food
• Daily Record

• 350g strong flour + flour for dusting
• 1/4 tsp salt + a sprinkle for the glazing
• 4.5 tsp baking powder
• 90g butter, cubed and soft
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 175ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 1 beaten egg (for glazing)

1. Heat oven to 200°C (fan). Place a baking tray into the oven.

   I spread butter around the tray before this step, however it burnt in the oven and released lots of smoke. The scones probably won't stick without butter, so I would just recommend using the bare tray.
2. Tip 350g strong flour into a large bowl, with 1/4 tsp salt and 4.5 tsp baking powder. Mix.
3. Add the 90g of butter cubes (soften in the microwave for 10-20 secs if necessary), and rub with fingers until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs (with minimal lumps).
4. Stir in 3 tbsp sugar.
5. Add 175ml milk to a jug and heat for ~20 seconds until warm (not hot).
6. You can start making the glazing now - just beat an egg with a pinch of salt in it.
7. Make a well in the dry mix, add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and a squeeze of lemon juice, then pour all of the milk into the well.

   Don't add the vanilla extract and lemon juice to the milk before pouring. I tried this, it just sticks to the jug…
8. Combine the milk and the mix using a butterknife. It will seem really wet at first, then it should go dry. Don't worry if a little bit of the mix doesn't seem to want to mix into the dough.
9. Flour a work surface, and tip the dough onto it. Flour your hands and the dough. Press the dough flat and fold, repeating 3-4 times until it is smooth (and the little left over bits of mix have been pressed into it).
10. Pat into a round a few centimetres deep. The photo above shows some scones from a few rounds from ~3cm to ~6cm thick. 4cm or so seems to be ideal - imagine around a 2.5x increase in size when rising in the oven.
11. Pour some flour into a bowl, and dip the cutter into it before each cut. Ideally, you should end up with about 4 scones from your first round. Press the rest of your dough into another round and cut out more.
12. Gently brush the tops of the scones with the beaten egg from before.
13. Take the tray out of the oven, and carefully put the scones on it.
14. Baking time is around 10 minutes. You will see the scones rise and go golden on top.