"Fancy a spot of tea luvvie?"
Since I'm all unemployed these days, then I reckon I should do the tai-tai thing and have tea. And since nobody does tea better than the Brits, so I'm channeling Margaret Thatcher and having some scones and tea.
Scones are dead easy to make. In fact, it's the very first thing I ever cooked, courtesy of home economics class in school. My version amps up the sin factor, with heaps of cream and butter.
Rich and buttery, they're the perfect vehicle for lashings of homemade raspberry preserves and a massive dollop of freshly made whipped cream.
Makes 20 scones:
- 370g all-purpose flour
- 40g caster sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 170g cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 225 ml cream
Preheat oven to 200C and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. Alternatively, whizz in a food processor like I do. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
Lightly beat egg and egg yolk. Keep half for the glaze and combine the rest with the cream and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.
If you are using a food processor, add the liquid mixture bit by bit and pulse in between. The dough will start to mass and pull away from the sides.
Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle that is about 3cm thick. Then, using a 6cm round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart.
Make an egg wash using the leftover egg and some water. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.
Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
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