Cherry Scones

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •5cm round pastry cutter
• •Baking tray
• •Pastry brush
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Set the oven to 220C/200C fan. Line a baking tray with parchment. Scones want a properly hot oven from the moment they go in. A lukewarm oven gives you flat, sad things; a hot oven gives you the lift and the golden top you're after. Get it heating before you do anything else.

   Don't open the oven door in the first eight minutes. The blast of cold air can knock the rise out of them before they've set.
2. 2

   Rinse and quarter the cherries

   Tip the glace cherries into a sieve and rinse them briefly under cold water. This washes off the syrupy coating that would otherwise turn the scones gummy and sink the cherries to the bottom. Pat them dry on a clean tea towel. Quarter them. They want to be small enough to scatter through the crumb, not great red boulders.

   Drying matters. Wet cherries weep colour into the dough and you'll end up with pink scones. Pretty enough, but not what we're after.
3. 3

   Rub in the butter

   Tip the flour, baking powder, and salt into a wide bowl. Add the cubed butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour, lifting the mixture as you go to keep things cool and airy. Stop when it looks like coarse breadcrumbs with a few larger flecks of butter still visible. Those flecks are good. They're what makes the scones flaky.

4. 4

   Add sugar and cherries

   Stir the sugar through the breadcrumb mixture, then scatter in the quartered cherries and toss to coat them in flour. The flour coating helps them stay where you put them rather than sinking. A wooden spoon does this gently and well.

5. 5

   Bring the dough together

   Make a well in the centre. Pour in the milk and vanilla. Use a butter knife to bring it all together with quick, light strokes. The dough should be soft and slightly shaggy, neither dry nor sticky. If it looks too dry, add a splash more milk a teaspoon at a time. Stop the moment it holds together. Overworked scone dough goes tough and you can't undo it.

   Trust your hands more than your eyes here. The dough should feel like a soft cheek, not a stiff biscuit dough.
6. 6

   Pat out and cut

   Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat it gently into a round about 3cm thick. Don't roll it. A rolling pin compresses the layers and you lose the lift. Use a 5cm round cutter dipped in flour to stamp out the scones, pressing straight down without twisting. Twisting seals the edges and they'll rise lopsided. Gather the scraps lightly and pat out for a second cut. The first batch will always be the best.

7. 7

   Glaze and bake

   Place the scones on the lined tray, leaving a little space between them so they have room to puff. Brush the tops with beaten egg, taking care not to drip down the sides as that can hold them back from rising. Bake for ten to twelve minutes, until they've risen tall and the tops are deeply golden. Your nose will tell you when they're nearly done: the kitchen will smell of warm butter and faint vanilla, and you'll know.

   Tap the bottom of one when you take them out. It should sound hollow. That's your sign they're cooked through.
8. 8

   Cool briefly and serve

   Move them to a wire rack and let them sit for five minutes, no longer. Scones are at their best while they're still warm enough to melt a knob of butter. Split them with your hands rather than a knife. Butter, jam if you like, a strong pot of tea on the side. Right food, right afternoon.

Chef Tips

• •Rinse the glace cherries properly. The sugary syrup they come packed in will turn the dough sticky and pull the cherries to the bottom of the scone. A quick rinse and a thorough dry on a tea towel makes all the difference. It's a small step that decides whether you've made proper bakery scones or sad pink ones.
• •Cold butter, cold milk, warm oven. Scones rely on the contrast between cold fat in the dough and a hot oven to give you that characteristic rise and flaky crumb. If your kitchen is warm, pop the bowl in the fridge for ten minutes after rubbing in the butter. A little patience here pays off.
• •Eat them the day they're baked. Scones don't keep well, and a day-old scone is a small disappointment compared to a fresh one. If you must save some, split and toast them the next morning with butter. That's a different pleasure, but a real one.

Advance Preparation

• •The dry ingredients can be measured into the bowl the night before and covered. In the morning, all you need to do is rub in the butter and add the wet ingredients.
• •Unbaked scones can be cut, placed on a tray, and frozen. Bake from frozen, adding two or three minutes to the cooking time. Useful for unexpected visitors or unexpected weather.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 95g)