This week we are all about pumpkin, and these pumpkin scones spiked with a little bit of ground ginger and nutmeg is 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 spices and pumpkin if you want to cook a plain scone. 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! Just add an extra 80mls milk.

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Makes 10-12

Ingredients

450g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
100g very cold butter, cut into tiny cubes
2/3 c pumpkin puree or thick pumpkin soup
260ml milk, plus extra for brushing

Method

Preheat oven 220°C.

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl.

Add chilled butter and quickly rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles wet sand or breadcrumbs. This step is a bit of an effort, but it’s worth it!

Make a well in the centre and add the pumpkin puree and milk. Using a fork, start to mix the puree and milk until almost combined.

Next, start incorporating the flour into the wet ingredients until it forms a soft dough. Tip onto a floured surface and gently press into a disc about 3 to 4cm thick.

Using a 5cm or 6 cm scone cutter cut out round close together from the dough. Bring the remaining dough back together and repeat.

Place on a baking tray 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 and enjoy them while hot.