Afternoon tea

Buttermilk Scones with Cream and Jam

This scone recipe was originally one of Delia's but I have changed it slightly replacing the butter with soft margarine and adding slightly less sugar.  The scones are very light (which is good if you are packing them with jam and cream)  5 minutes to make, 10 minutes to bake and make sure you have the kettle on.

Ingredients

8 oz self-raising flour + a little for dusting
Pinch of salt
3 oz soft margarine
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp buttermilk

Sieve the salt and flour into a bowl.  Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar.

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together and add to the mixture, bring together, first with a knife and then use your hands to form a ball of dough.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C / 425F / gas 7

Dust with flour and roll out to no less than 1" thick.  Cut rounds out with a 2" cutter and place them on a baking sheet, brush with a little buttermilk and dust the tops with flour.  Place them on the top shelf of the oven for 10 minutes until they are golden brown.

Transfer them to a wire tray to cool.

This would be a good time to put the kettle on.

Whip some double cream until it just starts to thicken, place a teaspoon of jam on one half of each scone and top with some cream before replacing the top.