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Scones
Seeing as I am writing this at 11pm at night with all my windows open while cuddling a bag of frozen peas, I think we can safely say that it is now officially summer. I have been celebrating this fact by giving up on getting properly dressed and instead standing in front of the fridge, eating clotted cream with a strawberry as a spoon substitute. If I ever develop my own diet plan it is definitely going to feature clotted cream. Is there anything more glorious then cream that is essentially just one walk over a cobbled street away from becoming butter? However, apparently a body cannot survive solely on fruit and dairy products so I figured it was time to consume this in a slightly more socially acceptable fashion.
When I first came to England I was convinced that I did not actually like scones. They seemed like a bland, crumbly and frankly disappointing substitute for a proper dessert, i.e. cake. It took me about 2 years to realise that the problem wasn’t scones but the fact that I had only ever tried the ones sold by a certain American, non-taxpaying coffee chain. And it turns out American scones are kind of shit. So, let this be a lesson to you all that you should never compromise on scone-quality (I want that on my tombstone by the way). They are actually incredibly easy to make, it shouldn’t take you more than 30 mins from start to finish and don’t require much in the way of equipment other than a bowl and a glass. It’s also a pretty useful recipe that can easily be turned savoury by substituting some roughly chopped cheese and maybe some spring onions for the raisins and obviously leaving out the sugar topping.
Makes 6-8.
250g self raising flour (or 250g plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder)
Pinch of salt
55g butter
140ml milk
¼ cup raisins (optional)
1 egg
1 tsp sugar
1. Preheat your oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted) and cover a baking tray with some parchment paper or tinfoil.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour and salt and then rub in the butter. You can use a mixer for this but I think just doing it with your hands is actually faster and easier in this case.
3. Pour in the milk and then knead the dough in the bowl until everything is well combined and hopefully not very sticky anymore.
4. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out your dough. Now is also a good time to add the raisins. If your dough is still very sticky just add some extra flour.
5. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter (or, if you are me, a standard IKEA glass) cut circles out of your dough and place on the baking tray.
6. Beat your egg and brush the top of your scones, then sprinkle each one with a little sugar.
7. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown on top.
8. Leave to cool then slice open and spread with clotted cream and jam.
