Last weekend I was going over my Mum's for the day so I thought what better treat to bring everyone than a fresh out of the oven batch of scones, a jar of raspberry jam and a big tub of Cornish clotted cream?! Perfect treat on a summers day with all the family.
It's one of those bakes that anyone could make, literally the perfect thing to bake with children. This recipe makes about 10-15 depending on how big/small you make them but lets go into that a bit further down....
All you need is
100g dried fruit - I used cherries, sultanas and chopped apricots
Orange juice, for soaking
150g cold unsalted butter
500g self-raising flour, plus a bit more for dusting
2 level teaspoons of baking powder
2 heaped teaspoons of golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk, plus slightly extra for browning
To serve, I'd suggest getting clotted cream and jam or lemon curd? What a beautiful, beautiful combo.
Now for the method, ideally you need two days to prepare but you can always do the first step in the morning for a couple hours if you didn't get a chance the night before.
1). Soak your dried fruit in a bowl preferable overnight, or for at least 3 hours. If you don't have a minimum of 3 hours I'd miss out soaking the fruit, as the orange flavour won't come through.
2). Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6
3). Add your butter, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into your mixing bowl and rub the mixture together - keep going until the butter is thoroughly combined into the flour and slightly similar to breadcrumbs.
4). Next, make a well in your scone mix and add your milk and eggs. Mix together with a wooden spoon - the less your hands have to touch the mixture the better.
5). Now you can drain your soaked fruit and combined into the mixture. If your mix is slightly dry you can add milk.
6). Proofing time - sprinkle some flour over the dough and cover with cling film. Leave in your fridge and chill for 15 minutes.
7). Feeling more relaxed? Good. Roll your dough out on a lightly floured surface until it's about 2/3cm thick. I used my good old tin can for cutting out the scones.
8). Once you've cut out all your scones, place them upside down on your baking tray as they are suppose to rise better (so Jamie Oliver says). 
9). Brush the top of each scone with your extra milk and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and risen. Leave to cool down for 10 minutes.
10). Fill a basket with your scones and serve to all your happy campers with scrumptious fillings.
There's the money shot - God I wish I had some left!
A great little tip if you don't want to bake a whole batch is to freeze the scones once you've cut them out. That way you can pop the frozen scones into the oven at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for roughly 25 minutes and they will be lovely and fresh - simple!
Whether you're after a sweet treat, a savoury dish or even want to go on a food porn voyage make sure to follow me on all or any of the links below to keep in the loop with my latest doings.
Couldn't agree more. Yummy xx
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