Bird Scones with Victoria North

Victoria North is a food writer, cook and founder of Bird Kitchen Clothing - kitchen clothing designed for women to work in.

Vic has been in food for around ten years, beginning with a market stall in her home town and culminated in running her own place for a few years. She branched out into clothing, based on a Women in Food interview series she wrote and her own experience of kitchen work. Her mission is “To build an international platform for women in food to celebrate the work we do.”

What has she been up to while in quarantine? “I've been doing a lot of cooking! It's been amazing to have the time to launch the IGTV cookery series and the routine of it has helped to keep me sane. The feedback I've had has been super rewarding - one viewer said, "One of your baking videos really inspired me. Made me feel safe - keep them coming!' and another one wrote, "Thank you for your inspirational content, it keeps me motivated in these isolated times." 

Make your afternoon tea count, with these delicious Bird Scones that Victoria made on the first episode of The Shift Show!

Celebrate the small moments. Roll out the table cloth, dig out your fancy crocks and take tea with these super-fine scones.

INGREDIENTS

360g self raising flour plus extra to roll

20g sugar

1 tsp baking powder

70g butter, cool, unsalted & roughly cubed

2 eggs

150g milk

Pinch of salt

KIT

Mixing bowl

Rolling pin

Scone cutter or knife

Baking tray lined with parchment

Scales

Jug for egg mix

Balloon whisk

Fork

Dough scraper – get one, you’ll use it for everything.

METHOD

Heat oven to 180c.

Combine eggs, milk and a pinch of salt together in a jug, using a fork.  The salt helps to break down the proteins.  You’ll see the mix change from gloopy to smooth. Set to one side.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. The balloon whisk makes a quick alternative to the sieve, great for larger quantities of ingredients and does just as good a job.

Tip the butter into your mix and rub together.  Use just your finger tips and thumb, as if you’re shuffling a pack of hands. Work swiftly and avoid using the palm of your hands.  Cool, swiftly worked dough makes for light scones.

Once your mix resembles a stack of golden breadcrumbs, shape your mixing hand into a ‘claw.’ Slowly pour in your egg mix as you mix with your clawed hand and bring it all together into a rough dough. Aim for a tacky dough, rather than sticky. You may find you have egg mix left over.

Lightly flour your work surface and transfer the dough. Knead into a smooth dough for a few minutes.

Using a rolling pin, edge out the dough to a thickness of around 3cm for high rise scones.

If you’re using a scone cutter, stamp out your scones. Take care not to twist the cutter as this can seal the sides and prevent a good rise. If you don’t have a cutter to hand, simply cut your dough into same size triangles or squares – the key is even sizes for an even bake.

Transfer to the lined baking sheet. If you have any egg mix left over, dress the top of your scones and load the oven.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, depending on the size of your scones.

Enjoy whilst warm with good tea and company.