However, Jamie Oliver assures his “best” recipe tastes “heavenly” when enjoyed straight out of the oven.
Sharing the recipe on his website, the star chef said: “Scones are wonderfully British, delicious, and so simple even a five-year-old could make them.
“There’s a magic hour just after they come out of the oven when they are so heavenly I just can’t imagine why anyone would prefer store-bought scones.
“Just remember that the less you touch the dough, the shorter and crumblier your scones will be.”
This teatime favourite, classed by Jamie as a “super easy” recipe, makes 16 scones and can be ready in as little as 35 minutes.
Ingredients
150g dried fruit, such as sour cherries, raisins, sultanas, chopped sour apricots, blueberries, or a mixture
orange juice, for soaking
150g cold unsalted butter
500g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
Two level teaspoons baking powder
Two heaped teaspoons golden caster sugar
Two large eggs
Four tablespoons milk, plus a little extra for brushing
optional: Jersey clotted cream, good-quality jam or lemon curd, to serve
Instructions
Start by placing dried fruit in a bowl and covering it with just enough orange juice. Let it sit for a few hours if possible. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
In a mixing bowl, combine butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, and a generous pinch of sea salt. Use your thumbs and fingers to work the butter into the flour until it forms small, cornflake-sized pieces.
Create a well in the centre of the mixture, then add the eggs and milk, mixing everything together with a spatula.
Drain the soaked fruit and fold it into the dough. If the dough feels too dry, add a tiny bit of milk until it’s soft but not sticky. Handle the dough as little as possible, leaving it as a rough mass. Sprinkle a bit of flour over the top, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about two to three cm. Use a 6 cm round cutter or the edge of a glass to cut out circles.
Place the circles on a baking sheet with the bottoms facing up—this helps them rise more evenly. Gather any leftover dough, re-roll it, and cut out additional scones.
Brush the tops of the scones with a bit of milk or melted butter, then bake them for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden and have risen nicely. Remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly.
Serve the scones with clotted cream and your choice of jam or lemon curd.
