This recipe appeared originally on coronation.gov.uk.

These scones are perfect for celebrating, as they’re each shaped into crowns! Garnish with gold leaf or lustre spray if you’re feeling luxurious. They’re flavoured with King Charles’ favourite tea: Darjeeling sweetened with honey.

Makes 10 scones.

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Ingredients

160ml milk
1 Darjeeling tea bag (or 1 tsp loose-leaf tea)
15g honey
2 cups (300g) self-raising flour
75g butter, cold and cubed
25g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
Clotted cream and strawberry jam, to serve

Method

1. Place the tea bag (or loose-leaf tea) into a small saucepan and pour over the milk. Heat gently, until mixture is steaming, then turn off heat and leave the tea to steep for 30 minutes. Remove tea bag, or strain the milk into a small jug, then add honey and mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.
3. Place flour into a large bowl and add cubes of butter. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until it’s well combined and roughly resembles breadcrumbs – it’s okay to be able to see a few small pieces of butter, as this will create a flaky texture.
4. Make a well in the centre of flour mix and gradually pour the infused milk and honey mixture into the centre of the well, stirring using a round bladed knife. A soft, rough dough should form. You may need to add a little more milk to mop up any excess flour. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly to smooth out dough and bring it together into a ball.
5. Gently roll dough out to a thickness of around 3cm. Reroll remaining dough, taking care not to handle the dough too much, and punch out more scones – you should get 10 in total.
6. Use a pair of scissors to snip small triangles in the top of the dough from the outside in, and press them upwards to form a crown-like ring around the scone. You need to push the scissors slightly into the scone to create a point that stands proud.
7. Chill scones for 1 hour to firm up (if you skip this, they won’t hold their shape). Arrange scones on prepared baking tray, then brush tops and crown points with a little egg wash.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Serve warm from the oven, split in two, with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

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