This week we are all about apples, and these apple scones spiked with a little bit of ground ginger and nutmeg are a great morning tea or afternoon pick-me-up!

Make sure your butter is really, really cold when you start working it into the flour. That’s the secret to a scone with a great texture.

And don’t overwork the dough when it comes together. Gently pull the dough together and pat it into a disc.

This scone recipe is fantastic without the apple and spices if you want to cook plain scones.

Not that you’d call them plain. The crumb on them is perfect, and with lashings of butter, cream and strawberry jam, well, they are divine!

The base of this recipe is a Maggie Beer one and it never goes wrong. Unless you don’t follow the instructions properly!

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Makes 9

Ingredients

450g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
100g very cold butter, cut into tiny cubes
2/3 apples, peeled and chopped
320ml milk, plus extra for brushing
Whipped cream, to serve
Butter, to serve
Jam, to serve

Method

Preheat oven 220°C.

Combine chopped apple, spices and 1tbsp sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Add chilled butter and quickly rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles wet sand. This step is a bit of an effort, but it’s worth it! Avoid using your palm because it will warm the butter too quickly.

Make a well in the centre and add the milk.

Using a fork, start to pull the flour into the milk until almost combined.

Tip onto a floured surface and gently press into a disc about 3 to 4cm thick.

Using a 5cm or 6 cm crinkle scone cutter, cut out rounds close together from the dough using a screwing motion. This helps the scones rise.

Bring the remaining dough back together and repeat.

Turn the scone upside down and gently press apple pieces onto the base.

Place them apple side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush the tops with milk. Be careful not to let the milk run down the sides.

Bake for 20 to 25 mins, remove from oven, and place on a wire cooling rack.

Serve with lashings of butter or apple sauce and enjoy them while hot — it’s when they’re the best!