Cream Scones

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (240 ml) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons frozen grated butter
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the
scones

METHOD

Preheat oven to very hot 240C/gas mark 9.

Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your
room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted
ingredients until cold.)

Rub the frozen grated butter into the dry ingredients
until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with
some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or
until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want
tender scones.

Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in
flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky
dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The
wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will
be!

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly
flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even
homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very
gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the
dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in
your scones knead very gently once (do not press too
firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3
or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth
texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you
knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch
rectangle by about 15 cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick.
Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter
(biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch
(5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another
2 cm layer and cut two more scones (these two
scones will not raise as well as the others since the
extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use
a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges
as you desire.

Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you
wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds
spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to
have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if
you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly
flour if you want a more traditional look to your
scones.

Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10
minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at
these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the
scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the
tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the
cooking process, serve while still warm.

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