Crumbliest Scones

Crumbliest Scones Recipe
Makes 6 | Prep Time: 30 Minutes | Bake Time: 20 Minutes
Source: Jamie Oliver

Ingredients:

75 g dried fruit, such as sour cherries, raisins, sultanas, chopped sour apricots, blueberries, or a mixture
Orange juice, for soaking
75 g cold unsalted butter
250 g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 heaped teaspoon golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk, plus a little extra for brushing

Optional:

Jersey clotted cream, good-quality jam or lemon curd, to serve

Method:

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.

Put your butter, flour, baking powder, sugar and a pinch of 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 cling film 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 15-18 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.

Cook’s Note:
I halved the original recipe and made 6 scones. Double the recipe and you will make a dozen.