Growing up in Australia, one of my childhood comfort food was Aunty Mary's scones.  We often visited her after school in the afternoons and she would serve us a plate of scones with cream and jam.  Here is a recipe I have put together to remember her wonderful scones.

Ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour (sifted)

A pinch salt

1tbsp sugar

90g unsalted butter (cold and cut into cubes)

3/4 cup in total of milk and cream combined (any combination is fine but the more cream you put in, the more decadent your scones will be!)

Extras: chocolate chips, dried fruits etc..

Method:

In a large bowl, add the self raising flour, sugar, salt and butter.

Use the tip of your fingers, rub the flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs. If you like dried fruits or chocolate chip, now is the time to add a handful of them to the bowl.

Make a well in the center and pour half the milk/cream into the well.

Use a knife and start mixing it together. If it is too dry, add more milk/cream until the dough comes together. If it is too wet, you need to add more flour. Don't play with it too much.

Remove from the bowl and on a floured surface, quickly pat the dough flat to approximately 3cms in height. If you knead it too much, it becomes hard so the less you do with it the better it is. Since I pat mine down and I don't use a rolling pin, my scones look lumpy on top instead of smooth. It's your choice. If you want smooth looking tops, then roll them out with a roller but don't play around with them too long.

Use a round cutter and cut out the dough. Put them on a lined baking tray so it won't stick. Put the scones close together so that they can push each other up as they rise in the oven.

Brush the tops with milk and pop it into a non fan forced oven at 220 degrees C for approximately 8 minutes. Check to make sure it is cooked through.

Remove and wait for about 10 minutes before eating otherwise it will be quite doughy. Break the scone in half with your fingers and spread some butter and jam or whipped cream.

Remember, every oven is different so you may need to adjust the temperature of the oven and timing to suit yours.