John Whaite's perfect scones
August is the perfect month for afternoon tea, which could never be complete without some fresh-baked scones, served with jam and clotted cream. John shows us how to make his showstoppers.
Ingredients
250g whole milk 1 tsp lemon juice250g plain flour250g strong bread flour25g baking powder80g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed80g caster sugar5g salt2 medium eggs1 egg beaten with 1tsp salt for glazing
Equipment
A baking sheet Cake release spray (available on the baking aisle), or a piece of kitchen roll with sunflower oil on itA 3inch circle cookie cutter
Method
First stir together the milk and the lemon juice and set to one side to allow the lemon juice to curdle the milk. This creates a more acidic liquid, which will react with the bicarbonate of soda in the baking powder to give more of a rise to the scones.
Toss the flours and baking powder together and put into a mixing bowl with the butter. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers and thumbs, until it resembles inelegant breadcrumbs.
Toss through the sugar and salt, then beat the eggs and add to the dry mixture and stir through until everything is evenly dispersed, though the mixture should be quite clumpy now.
Add the curdled milk, and bring together in the bowl with your hands or a wooden spoon until you have a reasonably even dough, then lightly flour the countertop and just fold the dough over a few times until it comes together and is fairly smooth.
Place onto a baking sheet sprayed with cake release spray (or lightly greased) and cover with sprayed/greased cling film. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan.
Remove from the fridge and cut out disks using the cutter - make sure you dip the cutter in flour each time you use it to stop the scones sticking. Place the scones back onto the greased baking sheet and pop back into the fridge for another 20 minutes.
Remove the scones from the fridge and flip them over - this helps to ensure a really flat top to the scones. Glaze each scone top with the beaten egg, then bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
As soon as they come out of the oven cover the fresh-baked scones with a clean, slightly damp cloth to keep them soft. Serve with jam and clotted cream.
John's strawberry shortbread stacks