SCONES WITH EGGS RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
  2. Pulse the flour and butter in a food processor until they start to look like breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl and make a well in the middle.
  3. In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk with a fork, add a good pinch of salt and pepper and pour into the well. Mix the flour into the eggs and milk, adding a little more milk if needed, until you have a soft, dry dough.
  4. Split the dough evenly into 3 pieces. Press each piece out flat on your work surface and sprinkle 1 piece with mustard powder, 1 with cumin powder and the last with grated cheese. Roll up each piece and knead lightly until the flavouring is just mixed in, trying not to handle the mixture too much.
  5. Press or roll the dough pieces flat again, until they are about 2.5cm thick. Cut out 2 circles from each piece with an 8cm cutter or the rim of a glass, and place upside down on a baking sheet. Brush the top of each scone with the extra milk and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until risen and brown.

Steps:

• 1. First and foremost, brilliant scones are about having the confidence to do as little as possible, so do what I say and they’ll be really great; and the second and third time you make them you'll get the dough into a solid mass even quicker, even better.
  2. Put the dried fruit into a bowl and pour over just enough orange juice to cover. Ideally, leave it for a couple of hours. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
  3. Put your butter, flour, baking powder, sugar and a good pinch of sea salt into a mixing bowl and use your thumbs and forefingers to break up the butter and rub it into the flour so you get little cornflake-sized pieces. Make a well in the middle of the dough, add the eggs and milk, and stir it up with a spatula.
  4. Drain your soaked fruit and add that to the mixture. Add a tiny splash of milk if needed, until you have a soft, dry dough. Move it around as little as possible to get it looking like a scruffy mass – at this point, you’re done. Sprinkle over some flour, cover the bowl with clingfilm and pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes.
  5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 2 to 3cm thick. With a 6cm round cutter or the rim of a glass, cut out circles from the dough and place them upside down on a baking sheet – they will rise better that way (so they say). Re-roll any offcuts to use up the dough.
  6. Brush the top of each scone with the extra milk or some melted butter and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until risen and golden. At that point, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool down a little.
  7. Serve with clotted cream and a little jam or lemon curd.