Scones

Old school traditional English scones for your afternoon tea!

Photographs: Natasha Liviero

Text: Natasha Liviero / Pexels

Scones

Makes 10-15 scones (5/6cm cutter)

Ingredients:

250g flour

13g baking powder

10g castor sugar

40g butter, cold and cubed

2g salt

1 large egg

+/- 200g milk

1 small egg, whisked for egg wash

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to180 C. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

2. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles sea sand.

3. In a bowl, whisk the egg and add to the flour mixture.

4. Slowly stir the milk into the flour mixture with a metal spoon until it forms a rough dough. You may only need part of the quantity of milk - add or reduce as required. The dough should be firm and sticky, not wet and sloppy.

5. With your hand, gently form a rough ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl but sticks to your fingers. Do not overwork the mixture.

6. Place the dough onto a floured surface and fold it over a few times.

7. With your hands, flatten the dough into a rectangle 2.5-3cm thick. Ensure there is sufficient flour underneath to prevent your scones from sticking.

8. Using a round cutter that is 5/6cm in diameter (dip the cutter into flour to prevent the dough from sticking), firmly press into the dough and lift without twisting. Place the scones onto a greased baking tray.

9. Gently scoop the remaining dough and press together, once again 2.5-3cm thick, before cutting into rounds. You can repeat with the last bit of dough, but it wont rise as well as the others.

10. Brush the surface of the scones with egg wash, ensuring it doesn’t run down the sides.

11. Bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden brown.

12. Cool on a wire rack.

13. Best eaten warm the day they are baked. Serve with jam and whipped cream.