Scones and Honey Butter

From Saveur Magazine

Scones

Makes 1 Dozen

The Old Cottage Tea Shop serves plain scones like these as well as a savory variety flavored with bacon and cheese.

6 3/4 cups self-rising flour
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 lb. cold butter, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 4oo degrees. Whisk flour and sugar together in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, 2 table knives, or your fingers, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
2. Whisk egg and milk together in a small bowl or a liquid measuring cup (mixture will yield 1 1/4 cups.) Add 1 cup of the milk mixture to the flour-butter mixture and gently mix togheter with your hand just euntil a soft (not takcy) dough forms, adding 1-2 tbsp. more milk mixture, 1 tbsp. at a time, if dough is too dry. Reserve remaining milk mixture.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat dough out to a 1" thickness. Using a 3" round cookie cutter, cut out scones, gently rounding off edges with your hands.Gather dough scraps togheter and repeat process, making 12 scones in all. Put scones ona lightly floured baking sheet about 1/2" apart. Brush tops with the remaining milk mixture.
4. Bake scones until golden brown, 20-25 minutes (tent baking sheet with foil if tops brown too quickly.) Transfer scones wto a wire rack to let cool briefly. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Honey Butter

Makes 2 Cups

Stephen Buchmann, in Letters from the Hive, suggests using your favorite honey for this recipe (he likes orange blossom.)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt

Gently beat the ingredients together in a mixiing bowl until smooth, then chill and enjoy.

Variations: For lemon honey butter, just add 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice; you may also add 1-2 tsp of grated lemon zest.