Phil Khoury, Sous Pastry Chef at Harrods in London, has sent us his secret recipe for the perfect scones! Top with clotted cream and your favourite Tiptree Jam, and you have the perfect Cream Tea. Enjoy!

Cream Tea with Phil Khoury

Makes 10 Scones

• 300g Plain flour 
• 25g Caster sugar 
• 18g Baking powder 
• 1g Fine salt (pinch)
• 85g Lurpak Unsalted Butter
• 175g Milk - You can also do half milk and half buttermilk

• Egg yolk, for finishing
• Tiptree Jams
• Clotted Cream

1. Place dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. You won’t need to sift the flour. 
2. Cut your butter into one-centimetre cubes and place into flour mixture.
3. Use a rubbing motion, like rubbing your hands together, mixing the flour and butter until you reach a breadcrumb consistency. 
4. Add milk and use a spatula to mix a dough, and continue mixing until it comes together with no dry mix left.
5. Pour the dough into a lightly floured bench and knead the dough. A lot of recipes call for very light kneading, but I find it makes a crumbly scone. You need it to be developed a bit so that it is able to capture the gas created by the baking powder being activated. You want the top of the dough ball to be smooth.
6. Rest for 15-20 minutes on bench, wrapped in cling film to rest so the scones cut nicey and stay round.
7. Lightly flour the bench the top of the dough ball and turn over so the smooth side is on the bench.
8. Roll in both directions to 2-2.5cm thick and very lightly flour the top of the dough - this will mean you don’t have to dust your cutter in between cuts. 
9. Cut decisively with a 6cm round cutter, and then carefully turn over the scone, and place it on the tray - this gives you a nice sharp edge.
10. Brush egg yolk that has been whisked with a pinch of sugar and salt - for nice consistency - neatly across the top of the scone so it's a perfect golden circle and rest for 1 hour!!! This will make the rise perfectly and evenly. 
11. Half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 180*C fan forced and place rack in the middle of the oven.
12. Bake the scones for 10-11 mins until the tops are nice and golden and the sides are still pale.