Nigella Lawson Cheese Scones Food

BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a large lipped baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the flour into a bowl with the baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar. Chop the butter and the vegetable shortening into pieces and drop them into the flour. Rub the fats into the flour - or just mix any old how - and then pour in the buttermilk, working everything together to form a dough.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Pat the dough into a round-edged oblong about 1 3/4 inches thick and cut out 2-inch scones with a biscuit cutter. (Mine are never a uniform height, as I only pat the dough into its shape without worrying whether it's irregular or not.)
• Arrange the scones fairly close together on your lined baking sheet, and brush with beaten egg (to give golden tops) or not as you wish.
• Bake for 12 minutes, by which time the scones will be dry on the bottom and have a relatively light feel. Remove them to a wire rack to cool, and serve with clotted cream and your favourite jam.
• Make Ahead Note: Scones are best on the day they are made but day-old scones can be revived by warming in oven preheated to 300 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Freeze Note: Baked scones can be frozen in airtight containers or resealable bags for up to one month. Thaw for 1 hour at room temperature and warm as above. Unbaked scones can be put on parchment-lined trays and frozen until solid. Transfer to resealable bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake direct from frozen, as directed in recipe, but allowing extra 2 to 3 minutes baking time.

LILY'S SCONES

Steps:

• You will need a 6½ cm / 2½ inch crinkle-edged round cutter and a lightly greased baking tray. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/gas mark 7/450°F. Sift the flour, salt, bicarb and cream of tartar into a large bowl. Rub in the fats till it goes like damp sand. Add the milk all at once, mix briefly - briefly being the operative word - and then turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to form a dough. Roll out to about 3cm thickness. Dip the cutter into some flour, then stamp out at least 10 scones. You get 12 in all from this, but may need to reroll for the last 2. Place on the baking tray very close together - the idea is that they bulge and stick together on cooking - then brush the tops with the egg-wash. Put in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until risen and golden. Always eat freshly baked, preferably still warm from the oven, with clotted cream and jam or, my favourite, Thunder and Lightning, which is (as in the picture) clotted cream and black treacle.