Fruit Scones

A quintessential part of Afternoon tea, a proper British scone is round, tall, and has an extremely light texture with a crust like exterior.

Fruit Scones

Time: preparation time: less than 30 mins; cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
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Ingredients

75g (21⁄2 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
350g (12oz) all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
4 tsp baking powder
30g (1oz) superfine sugar
75g (21⁄2oz) sultanas
about 150ml (5fl oz) milk
2 large eggs, beaten

Makes 10

Preparation method

Preheat the over to 425ºF, gas mark 7.
Lightly grease a large baking sheet
Put the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the cubes of butter, keeping all the ingredients as cold as possible. Rub in lightly and quickly with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar, and sultanas.
Pour 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) of the milk and all but 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg into the flour mixture.
Mix together with a round-bladed knife to a soft, but not too sticky dough, adding a bit more milk if needed to mop up any dry bits of mixture in the bottom of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, lightly knead just a few times only until gathered together, then gently roll and pat out to form a rectangle about 3⁄4in deep.
Cut out as many rounds as possible from the first rolling with a 2 1⁄2 in cutter (a plain cutter is easier to use than a fluted one) and lay them on the baking sheet, spaced slightly apart. Gather the trimmings, then roll and cut out again. Repeat until you have 10 scones.
Mix together the remaining milk and reserved egg, and brush the tops of the scones with the mixture.
Bake for about 10 minutes, or until risen and golden.
Remove and cool on a wire rack