It was my birthday today, and as tradition-that-no-one-knows-why-it’s-this-way-round, I got the cakes in. Pshaw to buying them though, it’s baking for me. And scones are easy crowd-pleasers.

For me the scone (scowwwwn? skon?) has to be puffy, airy and crumbly. The key to it is to trap as much air as possible in the dough and plenty of butter to encourage the pastry to fall apart. So tons of butter, some well-sifted flour, baking powder, milk and eggs then. And lightly pressed into a large pancake. No rolling, it’ll squeeze the air out. Then cut out into shapes, brush with sugary milk and into a hot oven.

I brought some jam and clotted cream in, as there’s no finer way to top a scone.