Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •6cm straight-sided round cutter
• •Heavy baking tray
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Set the oven to 220C/200C fan and slide a baking tray onto the middle shelf to heat through. A hot tray under the scones helps the bottoms set quickly and pushes them upwards rather than outwards. This is half the secret of a tall scone.

   Properly hot oven, properly cold ingredients. The shock between the two is what gives you the rise.
2. 2

   Rub in the butter

   Tip the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl and give it a brief whisk to combine. Add the cold cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips, lifting your hands as you go to keep things cool. You want a rough, uneven texture, somewhere between breadcrumbs and rolled oats, with a few larger flecks of butter still showing. Those flecks turn into steam in the oven and lift the scones from the inside.

   Cold hands help. If yours run warm, run them under the cold tap for a minute and dry them well before you start.
3. 3

   Bring it together

   Make a well in the middle and pour in almost all of the buttermilk, holding back a tablespoon or two. Stir with a butter knife in quick, cutting strokes until the dough just starts to come together in shaggy clumps. If it looks dry in places, add the rest. The dough should be soft and a bit untidy, never wet, never smooth. Stop the moment it holds together. Overworked scone dough is heavy scone dough.

4. 4

   Shape and cut

   Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it gently with your hands into a round about 3cm thick. Don't roll it. A rolling pin compresses the dough and the scones won't lift the way they should. Dip a straight-sided cutter (about 6cm) into flour and stamp out your scones with a firm, clean push, no twisting. Twisting seals the edges and stunts the rise. Gather the scraps, press them lightly back together, and cut more until the dough is used up.

   The scones from the second pressing will always be a little less proud than the first. Eat those ones yourself. The good-looking ones are for guests.
5. 5

   Glaze and bake

   Beat the egg with a splash of buttermilk and brush the tops of the scones, taking care not to let it run down the sides, which would glue them to the tray and stop them rising evenly. Lift the hot tray from the oven, dust it with a little flour, and arrange the scones on it so they're almost touching. They like company in the oven. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes, until the tops are deep golden and the kitchen smells unmistakably of warm butter and bread. Tap the bottom of one. It should sound hollow.

   Trust your nose. It knows before the timer does. When the smell shifts from doughy to toasty, they're nearly there.
6. 6

   Cool just enough

   Lift the scones onto a wire rack and let them sit for five minutes, no longer. Tear one open with your hands rather than cutting it; the steam should rise out of a soft, pale crumb. Spread thickly with cold butter that melts into the warm middle, then a generous spoon of jam. Eat standing up, by the kitchen counter, while the kettle finishes boiling. There are few better feelings.

Chef Tips

• •Real buttermilk if you can find it. Cultured, slightly thick, tangy on the tongue. If you can't, a passable stand-in is 250ml whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice stirred in and left for ten minutes until it thickens and curdles. Not the same thing, but close enough on a Tuesday.
• •The dough should feel softer than you expect, almost too soft. That's right. Drier doughs make drier scones. Trust the wetness, work it lightly, and resist the urge to add more flour just to make it easier to handle.
• •Eat them the day they're made. Scones don't keep, no matter what anyone tells you. If you've got leftovers, split them, toast them under the grill the next morning, and butter them while they're still warm. That's a different pleasure, but a real one.
• •Jam first or cream first is a debate I won't be drawn into. Your kitchen, your rules.

Advance Preparation

• •The dry ingredients can be measured out and the butter rubbed in the night before. Cover and refrigerate, then add the buttermilk just before baking.
• •Unbaked scones freeze beautifully. Cut them, freeze them flat on a tray, then bag them up. Bake straight from frozen, adding three or four minutes to the cooking time. Scones on demand, more or less.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 105g)