Scones From Lees Cooking

• Preheat the oven to 225°C fan forced or 245°C conventional (475°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Sift together the self-raising flour, baking powder, icing sugar, salt and caster sugar several times. I usually sift mine at least five times.
• Using a knife, make a well in the centre. Add the thickened cream, milk and the milk and cold water mixture. Stir gently with the knife until a soft dough forms.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured bench and knead gently but well for 20 to 30 seconds, folding it over and giving it a quarter turn each time. You'll notice the dough becoming smoother and coming together more evenly. If the dough feels a little too soft, simply knead in a little extra sifted flour.

Cut the Scones

• Lightly flour a 5½ cm plain scone cutter. Pat the dough to approximately 3½ cm thick.
• Using the scone cutter, cut out the scones by pressing straight down without twisting the cutter.
• Place the scones about 2 cm apart on the prepared tray, making sure they are not touching.
• Gently knead together any remaining dough and continue cutting until all the dough has been used.
• Lightly brush the tops with milk or water.

Bake

• Bake on the middle shelf for about 12 minutes, or until the scones have almost doubled in size and are beautifully golden on the top and bottom. Every oven is different, so keep an eye on them during the last couple of minutes.
• If you like a soft scone top, cover the scones with a clean tea towel as soon as they come out of the oven. If you prefer a slightly firmer top, like I do, simply leave them uncovered while they cool.
• Allow the scones to cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serve

• Serve warm with your favourite jam and freshly whipped cream.