Lily's Scones (Nigella Lawson)

Ingredients
* 500 grams plain flour
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
* 4.5 tsp cream of tartar
* 50 grams cold unsalted butter, diced
* 25 grams Trex, in teaspooned lumps (or use another 25 grams of butter)
* 300 mL milk
* 1 large egg, beaten, for egg-wash
^ 6.5 cm crinkle-edged round cutter
^ 1 baking tray, lightly greased.

Method
* Preheat the oven to 220C / gas mark 7.
* 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 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 3 cm 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 re-roll 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 & Lightning, which is clotted cream and black treacle.
* Makes 12.
VARIATION: Add 75 grams of raisins or sultanas for fruit scones, or, something I’m keen on, use the same amount of dried sour cherries, with or without the finely grated zest of 1/2 an orange.  To make cheese scones, add 75 grams of mature Cheddar, grated.