Like most, during the lockdown; we’re finding ways to get creative with our baking. We levelled up some plain scones with the addition of gin and lemon – making an afternoon tea staple even more exciting!

Family recipes can be easily altered to include your favourite ingredients – for some this might be the addition of dried fruit, fresh fruit, nuts or chocolate but in true Craft56 fashion, we added gin. Biggar Gin uses citrus peel as a botanical so this was the gin of choice!

Ingredients:
250g self-raising flour
50g cold unsalted butter and some more for greasing the tray
30g caster sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ lemon
150 ml Biggar gin
50g icing sugar

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 220ºC or gas mark 7.

2. Lightly coat your baking tray in butter for easy serving when baked!

3. Sieve the flour into your mixing bowl and slowly add the butter until it’s combined to a texture like breadcrumbs – it’s easiest to use your fingers for this.

4. Add the baking powder, sugar and salt and mix until fully combined.

5. Juice your half lemon and leave this to the side and then grate the peel and add the zest to the mixture, again mixing until evenly distributed.

6. Create a well in the centre of the bowl and slowly add the gin. Use your hands to work the liquid into the mixture until fully combined – providing a soft dough.

7. Flip your dough out onto a flat surface and pat down until it has the thickness of approximately an inch and a half – don’t bother with a rolling pin for this – don’t want squished scones.

8. Cut out your desired shape. If you have a round cutter, perfect! If not make these scones into any shape you want! Funny shaped scones are as much of a crowd pleaser as perfectly round ones.

9. Please them on your greased baking tray and pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes until they turn golden.

10. Allow to cool completely before icing.

11. Create your icing! Add your icing sugar into a mixing bowl with half a teaspoon of water and mix. Slowly add your lemon juice from earlier until you have the consistency you want. Don’t worry if it gets too runny, just add more icing sugar! The icing should stick to your spoon a bit when you lift it out and not run straight off.

12. Ice your cakes! Some people like a dollop, we’re fans of a drizzle, maybe put it on the side and dip your scones into it. It’s your scones!