MUMMY'S SWEET WHITE SCONES

8 cups flour
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup superfine granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter
3 eggs, free-range if possible
1 3/4 cups milk (approximately), to mix
FOR THE GLAZE:
1 egg beaten with 1 pinch salt
granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Sieve all the dry ingredients together in a nice roomy bowl. Make a well in the center and rub in the butter.

Beat the 3 eggs with the milk, add the milk all in one go and mix to a soft dough.

Turn out on to a floured board. Knead lightly, just enough to shape into a round. Roll out to about 1-inch thick and stamp into scones. (Mummy always cut them into squares or diamond shapes.) Brush tops with egg wash and dip in granulated sugar.

Bake in the hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden-brown on top. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve the scones split in half with butter and homemade jam or, better still, with homemade raspberry jam and a dollop of whipped cream.

VARIATION:
Add 4 ounces plump sultanas to the above mixture when the butter has been rubbed in. Continue as above.

Adapted from source: The Complete Book of Irish Country Cooking: Traditional and Wholesome Recipes from Ireland by Darina Allen