A white china cake stand with scones on top, two white dishes one of cream and one of jam and two teaspoons at the side

Plain Scones

12 minutes - 15 minutes

Makes about 8.

This recipe is from Delia's Cakes.

Plain, meaning without added fruit, but light, airy and just the right amount of crusty surface makes these scones the perfect backdrop to preserves and clotted cream.

You can make them with buttermilk and natural yoghurt in place of the milk, and you can use 1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and 2 level teaspoons of cream of tartar with plain flour if you want to experiment, but the recipe below seems equally good to us and the ingredients are always available.

The Delia Online Cookery School: You can watch how to make this recipe in our video on this page.

Got a question on Delia's recipes? Ask Lindsey

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Cheese Scones, make your own!

Asked by: Gaynor H

How do you make the plain scone into cheese scones

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, We have a cheese scone recipe here… If you change the cheese to use whatever hard cheese you have and if you cannot get the buttermilk you can use milk with add a little lemon juice or vinegar to the milk. Delia uses old fashioned tablespoons so for this recipe I would start with 50ml of milk with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. You can change or omit the herbs too if you like. Best wishes Lindsey

Freezing Scones

Asked by: Bx

I would like to make a large batch of plain scones ahead of a cream tea afternoon. Can I freeze the scones? Is it best to cook them first or freeze them before cooking. Regards Bernice

Answered by Lindsey: Hello Bernice, Undoubtedly scones are best eaten within hours of being freshly baked. If you have to get ahead and freeze them it’s best to bake them and then as soon as they are cold freeze them in sealed freezer bags. (For up to three months). Then on the day. take them out of the freezer to defrost a couple of hours before you need them. I would remove them from the freezer and then from their bags and put them into large lidded plastic food containers that have been lined with kitchen towel. Kind regards Lindsey

Method

Begin by rubbing the butter into the sieved flour quickly, using your fingertips, then stir in the sugar followed by a pinch of salt.

Now, using a knife, mix in the milk little by little, and when it’s all in, flour your hands and knead the mixture to a soft dough (you may find you need just a drop more milk if it feels at all dry). Place the dough on a floured pastry board and with a rolling pin (also floured) lightly roll it out to a thickness of about 3cm. (This thickness is vital. The reason scones don’t rise enough is because they are rolled too thin.)

Then take the pastry cutter and tap it sharply so that it goes straight through the dough – do not twist or the scones will turn out a strange shape! When you have cut as many as you can, knead the remaining dough together again and repeat. Then place the scones on the baking sheet, dust each one with flour and bake near the top of the oven for 12–15 minutes.

When they’re done they will have risen and turned a golden brown. Then transfer them to a wire rack and eat as soon as they are cool enough, spread with butter, jam and clotted cream.

Ingredients

40g spreadable butter

225g self-raising flour

1½ level tablespoons golden caster sugar

pinch of salt

110ml milk, plus a little more (if needed)

a little extra flour

Equipment

You will need a Delia Online Baking Sheet with a non-stick liner or similar, and a 5cm plain (or fluted) cutter

The Delia Online bakeware range is now available online, and you can buy our Delia Online Baking Sheet and washable and reusable liner direct from Silverwood.

Click here for the baking sheet
Click here for the liner