It's been a LONG time since the last afternoon tea post (5 months, yikes!) but this is an enjoyable series so it'd rather last well, right? Today, I'm highlighting the famous, classic scone. Scones are basically a pastry that have a crusty exterior and are flaky and soft in the interior. You can imagine them as a lightly sweetened biscuit that you'd normally eat with butter, jam (and tea, of course). Scones are often paired with oats along with flour to make oat scones, which also adds another flavour. They are relatively easy to make, however there are a few steps which, if not followed would result in the creation of baked hockey pucks (literally). I know this is the most stereotypical description of an over kneaded scone, but it's true, trust me.

The most important thing while making scones is to make sure all your ingredients are cold, especially the butter. The butter has to be cold and un-melted and you should be able to see chunks of it in your final dough. The butter is meant to melt in the oven, so that it creates little pockets with air that turns to steam, that forces the layers apart, making soft/ flaky scones. To make sure you have air in the dough to form steam, you have to avoid over mixing the dough, keeping it lose. If you press the dough too hard, you're forcing the air out and so your scones will turn out to be dense (worthy of a rock garden). For shaping/ cutting the dough, you should preferably use something sharp like a bench scraper, again, to avoid overworking it. If you want to be on the real safe side, you can shape your scones, chill them while preheating your oven and then bake.

At first glance, this might seem too much to process, but it's really important to know the "why", just so you know your work is being put to good use! Plus, you'll get a buttery, soft scone!

Makes 12-16:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• A little more than 1/4 cup black raisins
• 6 tbsp. cold butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 220˚C. Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter into the dry ingredients till the mixture turns to coarse crumbs. Beat one egg and add to the mixture along with milk, mixing until the dough is just combined. Knead gently on a lightly floured surface. divide the dough into half using a bench scraper/knife. Roll each part into a ball and pat to form a circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Divide the the circle into sixths or eighths. Place the wedges on an ungreased baking tray. Lightly beat an egg and brush the wedges with it. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Slice in half laterally and spread with butter and jam. Eat fresh out of the oven!

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