DISCLAIMER: It’s MY scone, so I do it MY way. Jam or cream, they go on the way that I see fit. Ner. You all can argue about the right and wrong, I’ll be eating my scone.

Anyway.

I’ve never made scones. There. I’ve said it. I hate rubbing the fat into the flour, as it makes my hands hurt almost instantly. Any recipe that says to do that gets done in the food processor.

Today though…I had found some Rodda’s clotted cream, and wanted scones. I wasn’t going to buy them, as the shop bought ones usually have way too much bicarbonate of soda in, and I really do not like the taste of that, so the only way was to make them myself and adjust the quantities. I wondered if the processor would work the dough too much, so I just pulsed the butter and flour, then did the rest by hand.

I found a Delia recipe online for the basics, and then off I went.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/plain-scones.html

225g plain flour (that was all I had.)

1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 level tsp cream of tartar

pinch salt

40 g cold butter

110 ml milk

1 tsp vanilla

1.5 tbs caster sugar

Beaten egg to glaze the top if you want

I pulsed the butter, flour, salt, bicarb and cream of tartar in the food processor until it looked like fine breadcrumbs, then pulsed in the sugar.

Tipped the lot into a bowl and added the milk and vanilla then brought it together with a table knife.

Once it was almost together, I tipped it out onto the work surface and kneaded it lightly until all the flour was incorporated, then patted it out gently into a round, then just decided to bake it as a piece. Fewer items to wash up, and the dough wasn’t overworked.

Put it onto a lined baking tray then baked it at 220C for 10 minutes, then put on an egg wash, then baked for another 5.

I was most surprised that it worked!

It made for a lovely afternoon tea, and the Rodda’s did not disappoint in any way. Clean tasting, beautifully smooth cream, and perfect with the strawberry jam. I love St Dalfour jams, as they are all about the fruit, not the sugar.