Scones

Today's recipe is one of the quickest and easiest! It's lots of fun and you'll have tea on the table in no time at all.

You can keep it simple or dress it up and call it an old fashioned "English Cream Tea".

So Grandma please turn on the oven to gas Mk 6 (200C or 400F).

Gather together:

Mixing bowl
Scales
Baking tray
Knife
Measuring jug
Teaspoon
Rolling pin - not essential
Pastry cutter - not essential

Ingredients:

Flour (plain or self-raising, white or brown - your choice as always)
Baking powder (if you are using plain flour - because self-raising flour has some in already)
Caster sugar
Butter or margarine
Milk
1 Egg (not essential)
Raisins or sultanas if you like them
To serve - butter, jam/honey and possibly some double cream or clotted cream if you have some.

OK - here goes:

Weigh out 8oz (230g) flour into the mixing bowl.

If you are using plain flour, add 2 level teaspoons of baking powder. If you are using self-raising flour, you won't need this.

Weigh out 2oz (60g) sugar and add to flour. Mix well.

Weigh out 2oz (60g) butter or margarine and put it in with the dry mix.

Now the little ones get to rub the butter/margarine in to the dry mix till it looks and feels like sand! Or breadcrumbs - but I bet the little ones will know what sand feels like. A bit gritty because of the sugar grains. If the butter/margarine is hard from the fridge, this will take a little while. If it's soft, it will rub in very quickly.

This rubbing in process is a dream - my mum didn't have a food mixer so she used it as a method for baking all kinds of cakes as well as pastry. Who needs a food processor!

OK - now if you are going to make fruit scones, weigh out 2-4oz (60-120g) raisins or sultanas or currants or whatever you fancy. Stir them into the dry mix so that they get coated in flour - this stops them sticking together.

Now we add the wet bit.

My son is allergic to eggs so I never use eggs in cooking - in this recipe it doesn't matter if you use them or not.

So in a measuring jug break in 1 egg, beat it up and top it up to 4 fl oz with milk. Or if not using egg, just measure out 4 fl oz milk.

Stir half of this liquid into the dry mix with a knife. Depending on how absorbent your flour is you might need all of the liquid or not all of it. Just stir round with the knife until you get a soft moist dough, adding a little at a time. You'll probably have a little liquid left over in the jug. Keep this because we can use it in a minute.

Now sprinkle a little flour on the work surface and tip your dough on to it. Work it together into a nice ball of dough.

Now - you can either roll it out using a rolling pin or just flatten it a bit with your hand. You want it to be about half an inch thick (1cm).

Now you get to cut it into shapes. If you shape the dough into a rectangle you can cut it into 8 pieces very easily. A bit of maths here for the little ones - 2 rows of 4, or 4 rows of 2!

Or if the dough is in a circle shape you can cut slices like a pizza - again 8 is easy to do. Cut across the middle, then down from the top, then divide each piece in half.

Or you can use a round pastry cutter (or whatever shape you have handy - star maybe?) and cut out as many as you can in one go. Then gently roll the trimmings together and flatten out again to cut some more.

Now - sprinkle a little flour on the baking tray and pop the scones on it. This is the time to use up the liquid left over - paint it on top of each of your scones, to give a nice glaze.

Put them in the oven to cook for 15 minutes. Set the timer now, so they don't burn. They taste best if they are not too brown.

Now there's just enough time to clear away and make a pot of tea while they cook. Who likes the feeling of warm water & bubbles? That person can wash up - another gets to dry the dishes and put them away. Grandma better clean up the work surface - it's a bit messy!

Kettle on then. Now who's going to lay the table? For a nice English afternoon tea we need cups and saucers, side plates and knives. Butter and jam or honey.

If you're having a fancy cream team, Grandma needs to whip up some double cream or open a tub of clotted cream (ooh - very fancy!). Question is - do you spread the cream first and then jam on top? Or do you spread jam first and then top with cream?

Time to sit down - eat them while they're still warm!