Preheat the oven to 200C (without the fan).
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Mix with a whisk or fork to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed through the flour.
Grate the chilled butter into the flour using a coarse grater (work fast). Incorporate the butter in with a fork. Stop once you have an even crumbly mix. (You can use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour but I discovered that using a fork is actually easier, gives me even crumbs and prevents the butter from softening too much).
Tip: Use a fork for most of the mixing. This way the ingredients stay cold and you are less likely overwork the dough.
Stir the sugar into the crumbly mix.
Make a well in the middle, add beaten eggs and with a fork keep combining the dry and wet ingredients.
Tip: Leave a small amount of egg at the bottom of the bowl, you can add a little bit of milk to it later and use the mix instead of an egg wash to brush the top of your scones.
Add the milk in a few steps. Keep gently combining with a fork.
Finally, use your hands to incorporate the last bits of dry flour into the mixture by pressing and turning the dough in the bowl (it doesn’t take more than 8 – 10 movements). Stop when the dough is just about to hold together. It will look very messy.
Tip the dough onto the lightly dusted counter. Gently pat the dough into an oval/circular shape at least 3 centimetres tall.
Cut the scones out using a round cutter. The top of the scones might have a few cracks and an uneven surface. That’s why I place the scones onto the tray with the top side down and the bottom - smoother side up.
For smaller scones use a 5.5 cm cutter. I’m able to cut around 10 scones and as I don’t like a waste, I pat the leftover dough together again and cut out 3 additional scones.
Brush the top of each scone with egg/milk wash and bake them on 200 C for approximately 13 minutes.
Let the scones cool down before serving. Enjoy them with clotted cream and jam.