Scones

Ingredients

• Cake flour (or all-purpose)250 g
• Baking powder2 tsp
• Salt0.25 tsp
• Cold butter · cubed, cold60 g
• Sugar40 g
• Milk · cold, save a little for glazing120 ml
• Egg · optional, for dough/glaze1
• Raisins or cranberries · optional50 g
• To serve
• Clotted cream (or whipped cream)1 to serve
• Jam (strawberry/raspberry)1 to serve

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 200°C. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

   ⏲ 2 min

2. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs (work fast so it stays cold). Stir in the sugar and dried fruit.

   ⏲ 5 min

3. Add the milk (and egg) and gently 'cut' it in with a knife or spatula into a single dough (overworking makes it tough).

   ⏲ 2 min

4. On a floured surface, pat the dough to 2–3cm thick and stamp out rounds with a cutter (press straight down without twisting so they rise evenly).

   ⏲ 3 min

5. Place on a tray and brush the tops with milk or egg wash for a glaze.

   ⏲ 1 min

6. Bake at 200°C for 12–15 minutes until risen and golden. Cool slightly, split, and serve with jam and cream.

   ⏲ 14 min

Tips & Variations

The basics behind this dish

• Dough and Gluten: When to Build It and When to Avoid ItThe same flour and water becomes a dumpling wrapper or a tender pancake. The difference is whether you built gluten or avoided it — and kneading and resting do different jobs.
• Heat Control: Preheating, Oil, and Reading the PanThe same ingredients become a different dish depending on pan temperature. When to add the oil, how to read heat by sound, and which dishes want low heat instead.
• Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.