scones & clotted cream

I recently had my first attempt at making clotted cream. It was much easier and way more successful than I ever thought it would be. There are several methods other people have written about online including slow cooking in the oven and using a slow cooker. A great place to read about all these ideas is over at The Culinary Life. I opted to heat the cream in a large bowl over a barely simmering pan of water for around an hour similar to this method from James Cooper.

Anyway, if you're going to have clotted cream in the house you HAVE to have scones to go with it. I've tried out many different recipes over time and this one has given me the lightest results so far. Serve them warm from the oven with a good raspberry or strawberry jam and a generous dollop of clotted cream. (By the way, if you want to be true to the Cornish origins of clotted cream it should be ON TOP of the jam. Apparently Devon folk put it under the cream because they're ashamed of it - that's what my Cornish husband says anyway!)

Ingredients Makes 8-10
350g plain/all purpose flour

5 tsp baking powder
50g butter
50g lard

25g caster sugar

1 egg
100ml milk

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then rub in the lard and butter using your finger tips. Be as light handed as you can. 
3. Beat the egg and mix with 50ml of milk. Add it to the flour and fat mixture and bring everything together so that you have a soft, sticky dough. Wetter is better for scones so don't be tempted to add extra flour. Your floured work surface should be enough to stop everything getting too sticky.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently pat down to about 2 cm thickness. Cut out your scones using either a 5cm cutter or form a rectangular shape and cut your scones into smaller squares.
5. Transfer to the baking sheet, brush with any left over egg and milk mixture then bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until they are well risen and golden brown on top.
6. Allow to cool a little before serving and enjoy with clotted cream, jam and a proper cup of tea.