Royal Melbourne Scones - Makes 16

< Royal Melbourne Scones
I baked some scones to go with tea this morning. They turned out well, so I'm posting the recipe here. (See photo of some we haven't eaten yet).

Plain flour for dusting
3 cups unbleached, self rising flour
3 ounces (80g) cold butter, cut into cubes
1/8 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 390F (200C).

Lightly dust a cookie sheet with plain flour. Sift self-rising flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Add butter cubes and cut in with pastry blender (or two knives) until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk. Stir with a flat-bladed knife until mixture forms a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and knead gently until smooth. (Don't knead too much or the scones will be tough.)

Pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick circle. Using a 2 inch diameter round cutter, cut dough into 12 rounds. Place rounds onto flour dusted cookie sheet. Press remaining dough together and cut out four more rounds. Place on cookie sheet with others.

Sprinkle tops with a little plain flour, or for a sweeter variety, brush tops with milk and sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden and well risen. Transfer to wire rack.

Serve warm with Jam and clotted cream (or butter).

Note: for a special treat, add a third cup of currants or chopped dates to the recipe.

Finally, for the pedants: in the US they're pronounced to rhyme with "hones", whereas in Oz the word rhymes with "Fonz".