James Martin Scone Recipes

ULTIMATE SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C and lightly butter a baking sheet (unless you're using a non-stick sheet). Tip the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt. Shoot in the butter, then rub together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine crumbed mixture, lifting to aerate the mixture as you go. Try not to overrub, as the mixture will be lighter if it's a little bit flaky. Now stir in the sugar.
• Measure the buttermilk, then mix in the milk to slacken it. Make a bit of a well in the middle of the flour mixture with a round-bladed knife, then pour in most of this buttermilk mixture, holding a little bit back in case it's not needed. Using the knife, gently work the mixture together until it forms a soft, almost sticky, dough. Work in any loose dry bits of mixture with the rest of the buttermilk. Don't overwork at this point or you will toughen the dough.
• Lift the ball of soft dough out of the bowl and put it on to a very lightly floured surface. Knead the mixture just 3-4 times to get rid of the cracks.
• Pat the dough gently with your hands to a thickness of no less than 2cm and no more than 2.5cm. Dip a 5.5cm round fluted cutter into a bowl of flour - this helps to stop the dough sticking to it, then cut out the scones by pushing down quickly and firmly on the cutter with the palm of your hand - don't twist it.You will hear the dough give a big sigh as the cutter goes in. Gather the trimmings lightly then pat and cut out a couple more scones.
• Place on the baking sheet and sift over a light dusting of flour or glaze if you wish. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack, uncovered if you prefer crisp tops, or covered loosely with a cloth for soft ones.
• Serve with strawberry jam and a generous mound of clotted cream (Cornish people put jam first, then cream, Devonians the other way round). Eat them as fresh as you can.

CRUMBLIEST SCONES

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Serve with clotted cream and a little jam or lemon curd.