Scones, a British tea time treat

Delicious fruit scones

When rich, cranky, Auntie Maud decides that she'll get the Rolls out and un-announced, have a drive round to your place on a Sunday afternoon, when she's bored and you've nothing to give her; here's the answer that will protect your inheritance!  Almost everyone has the makings in their larder.  Easy and quick to make fruit scones.

Ingredients

225 gm Self raising flour

Pinch salt

7 gm Baking powder

80 gm granulated or caster sugar

80 gm cubed butter 

2 x Medium eggs

6 x Tablespoons full fat milk

100 gm golden raisins

Method

Set the oven to 220° C 

Line a baking tray with baking parchment to fit the tray and butter it lightly. 

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a large glass or stainless steel bowl.

Put all the dry ingredients into the bowl and add the butter; then first, using a knife to 'cut' the ingredients together, and next your fingers, crumble the butter and flour mixture together until it forms a uniform crumb.  Then having beaten it, add one of the eggs and continue to mix the dough to a consistent consistency, being careful not to overwork it.  Or if you have one use a food mixer with the bread making tool.

Carefully add milk to the dough, observing the texture of the mixture.  At the end of the mixing process you will need a slightly loose dough that will allow the baking powder to work, creating a good rise as the scones bake.  Too stiff and the scones end up like curling stones, too loose and they're too sloppy to cut out to put on the baking tray.  Oops, no legacy!  

Finally add the raisins and mix thoroughly but gently through the dough. Then take it from the mixing bowl and put it on a floured board and pat it, it shouldn't be rolled, to a thickness of approximately 2 cm.

Take a lightly floured 6 cm cookie cutter to cut rounds from the finished dough, then put each round, well spaced out on to the baking tray.  Re-form the dough from the leftovers as each few rounds are made. There should be enough dough in this recipe to make six scones if you do it right!  Here is a "Delia" tip that I like.  Avoid twisting the cookie cutter as you cut the dough.  Twisting has the effect of 'sealing' the cut surfaces of the dough and causes the scones not to rise to their full potential.

Using the second egg, beaten, brush the top of each scone with the mixture for a glossy finish.  

Bake at 220 °C on the lower middle shelf of the oven for 15 minutes precisely, then check that they're correctly cooked.  The tops should be ever so slightly springy to the touch.  If they feel a bit heavy and "doughy," return the tray to the oven for two or three minutes, no more, then test again.  If they're hard like rock cakes, either sign yourself out of the will or give them to the neighbours children or gerbils and start again if you have time!  After all, this is a quick recipe, end to end this bake should only take forty five minutes.

Lastly bring out the posh cake stand, tea plates, butter and jam and get ready to make polite small talk to your potential benefactor.  Good luck!