How to make sweet or savory scones – recipe | Felicity Cloake Masterclass

I was lucky enough to be invited to afternoon tea recently - a rare treat indeed - and was surprised to realize that while baking exquisite caught my attention, the scones had my heart. With no garish icing to hide behind, the simple scone stands tall and droops on its absolute freshness, which is why you can't beat a homemade scone.

Prep 5 minMix 10 minCook 15-20 minMakes 12

350g self-rising flour, sifted (see step 1), plus extra for dusting A pinch of salt50g butter, softened50g lard , softened (or use 50g more butter to keep the veggie scones) 100-115ml milk

1 Start the dough

Heat oven to 200C (fan 180C) /390 F/gas 6 and lightly grease two baking sheets. Put the flour in a large bowl with the salt; if using plain flour rather than self-rising flour, reduce the amount to 340g and stir in four and a half teaspoons of baking powder until well combined. (If you want sweet scones, also add three tablespoons of powdered sugar.) spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">2 Cut butter and lard

Pinch or cut fat into small pieces; the lard will give your scones a nice lightness without any detectable pork flavor, but can be substituted with an equal weight of butter. (Note: organic, self-serve lard is hard to find online if, like me, you prefer to avoid foods of mysterious origin.)

3 Rub in the grease< figure id="98dc65f4-fc7b -4268-b153-70bde2634ba5" data-spacefinder-role="inline" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">