Do you have a “go to” scone recipe? 

I’ve been baking a specific scone recipe for years now, slightly adapting over time, this is simply fool proof. 

Not only are these scones easy to make and bake, but they are light and fluffy, perfect for your afternoon tea table. 

They are best served warm, with lashings of sweet jam and clotted cream. 

At my own tea parties, back in the day, I used to serve them with homemade peach & amaretto jam (just delicious!), but lately, admittedly, my favourite jam is a Bonne Maman strawberry preserve easily sourced from most British supermarkets. 

In honour of National Cream Tea Day, here is my take on a scone recipe from “The Hairy Bakers – Mums Knows Best” book: 

Miss Sue Flay’s Fruity Scones 

Makes 12-14 small scones or 8-10 large scones. 

340g Self Raising Flour 

Pinch of Salt 

85g Butter, plus extra for greasing 

60g Caster Sugar 

125ml Milk (I use semi skimmed) 

4 Tbsp Natural Yoghurt 

1 Tsp Cinnamon (sometimes I add more, as I love this flavour)

1 Tsp Nutmeg 

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence 

100g Sultanas 

Preheat the oven to 220*c/Gas 7 and lightly grease a baking sheet. 

Boil the kettle and add the sultanas to a small bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside. 

Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. 

Drain the sultanas and squeeze out the water, it doesn’t matter if they retain some water, you want them moist so that they don’t burn whilst cooking (you’ll get nice juicy fruit instead!) and mix in with the milk, vanilla essence and yoghurt.

Work the mixture together until a soft dough is formed. Don’t overwork your scone mixture though, I was always told to “bother” it, but don’t hassle it! 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly, then flatten it out to an even thickness of about 2cm. I use heart shaped cutters, but any shape will do. If you don’t have a cutter, use the rim of a thick drinking glass (just dip it in flour so the dough doesn’t stick). 

Using a 5cm cutter, cut out the scones and place them on the baking tray. Gather the trimmings and cut out more scones. (I always use the very last leftover piece to roll into a “scone ball” for taste-testing at the end!)

Place your scones fairly close together for baking, so that they all rise up together and don’t spread out thinly – this is one of those only times in baking you want them close together, they shouldn’t get stuck together, they should be ‘independent, but close friends‘!

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove the scones from the oven and leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm with all the trimmings!

Dust with a little icing sugar for prettiness. 

Enjoy! 

PS – If you don’t fancy baking, but still fancy going out for Afternoon Tea, then check out my reviews here!