300g Plain flour

25g Caster sugar 25g

18g Baking powder

A pinch of fine salt

85g Butter, unsalted

175ml Milk (You can also do half milk and half buttermilk)

Egg yolk, for finishing

For the ultimate English scone top with Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream & Tiptree Jams

  1. Place dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. You won’t need to sift the flour.
  2. Cut your butter into one-centimeter cubes and place into the flour mixture
  3. Use a rubbing motion, like rubbing your hands together, mixing the flour, and rubbing together to rub the flour and butter until you reach a breadcrumb consistency.
  4. Add milk and use a spatula to mix the dough, and continue mixing until it comes together with no dry mix left
  5. Pour the dough into a lightly floured bench and knead the dough. A lot of recipes call for very light kneading, but I find it makes a crumbly scone. You need it to be developed a bit so that it is able to capture the gas created by the baking powder being activated.
  6. You want the top of the dough ball to be smooth
  7. Rest for 15-20 minutes on the bench, wrapped in cling film to rest so the scones cut nicely and stay round
  8. Lightly flour the bench the top of the dough ball and turn over so the smooth side is on the bench
  9. Roll in both directions to 2-2.5cm thick and very lightly flour the top of the dough – this will mean you don’t have to dust your cutter in between cuts.
  10. Cut decisively with a 6cm round cutter, and then carefully turn over the scone, and place it on the tray – this gives you a nice sharp edge
  11. Brush egg yolk that has been whisked with a pinch of sugar and salt – for nice consistency – neatly across the top of the scone so it’s a perfect golden circle and rest for 1 hour!!! This will make the rise perfectly and evenly.
  12. Half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 180*C fan-forced and place the rack in the middle of the oven
  13. Bake the scones for 10-11 mins until the tops are nice and golden and the sides are still pale.