Scones are particularly versatile, and can be eaten any time of the day. They are just as good as a breakfast product as they are a mid-morning cake with a cup of tea, and open to variations. This recipe uses sultanas and cherries, but you can leave out the fruit entirely if you’d rather have them with jam, skip the cherries if you want something more traditional, or swap the fruit for cheese for a savoury treat.

However you choose to eat them, scones are best enjoyed slightly warmed, and buttered, so that the butter melts. Or, if you’re feeling particularly decadent, with clotted cream and either raspberry or strawberry jam.

Ingredients
680g (1.5lb) self raising flour
225g (8oz) lard
225g (8oz) granulated sugar
225g (8oz) sultanas
Handful of glace cherries (optional)
1 beaten egg
225g (8oz) of milk and water mix

Equipment needed
Large mixing bowl
Knife
Spoon (preferably wooden)
Pastry cutter
Oven
Baking trays
Cooling racks

Method
Place the flour into your largest mixing bowl, and cut in the lard. This should be sliced into small cubes to make it easier to combine with the flour.

Roll up your sleeves and use your fingers to rub the lard into the flour until you have a bowl full of what looks like fine breadcrumbs. You shouldn’t be able to see any of the lard itself by now. If you have a mixer, such as a Magimix (not a blender), you can use this on its pulse setting to combine the lard and flour.

Stir in the sugar and sultanas (and cherries if you’re using them) with a wooden spoon, avoiding the mixer if you used one in the last step, as you don’t want to overwork them and have them sliced up by the blades.

Once the sugar and fruit are fully combined into the mixture, you need to add your liquid. The precise amount you need will depends on the make-up of your dry ingredients. It will be around 225g of milk and water in roughly equal quantities, plus a beaten egg, but it is better to hold back a little of the liquid as you mix in the first batch to see how it all holds together, and add the rest if you need it.

What you are looking for as you stir in the liquid is for the mixture to form into a dense pastry, which you can then roll out on a floured surface, before cutting with a pastry cutter.

Lay the cut scones onto a lightly-greased baking tray, and cook for between 10 and 15 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit). When cooked, turn them out onto wire racks to cool.

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