Preheat the oven to 190g fan assisted. Line a large baking tray with a silicone sheet or baking parchment.
Place the sieved flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and butter into a mixing bowl. Rub everything together using your finger tips until there’s no sign of butter left. You should have a fine breadcrumb consistency.
Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk and fresh blueberries.
Using a large knife or spoon start to bring everything together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, including any remaining crumbs. Kneed the dough a little, to bring it all together into a soft smooth dough that is not too sticky. Do not over kneed or you will stretch the gluten.
Roll out the scone dough to roughly 1.5cm thick. Slice into portions. Place onto the prepared baking sheet and bake in the oven, on the middle shelf for 15 mins or until baked and and lightly golden in colour. With fresh fruit, there’s bound to be juices that spill out. Leave to one side to cool while you make the drizzle.
Make the Lemon icing drizzle.
Add the icing sugar, zest and Lemon juice in a small dish. Mix until you have a thick drizzle consistency. If the drizzle is too runny, add more icing sugar. If too thick, add a little more lemon juice.
Drizzle the icing liberally over the scones. Using a piping bag makes the job easier.
Notes
Scones are best eaten on the day they are made. The plain variety are often served with thick clotted cream and jam. These scones have no need for additional sweetness and can be eaten on their own. They will keep for a couple of days when stored in an airtight container.
Take care not to crush the fresh fruits too much when bringing the scone dough together. This could make the dough a little too wet with excessive juice.
Do not overwork the scone dough. Kneed it slightly until you have a smooth dough. Overworking will stretch any gluten in the flour and make them tough after baking.
Try and avoid adding any additional buttermilk. Once you’ve initially started to bring the scone dough together in the mixing bowl, turn it out onto a slightly floured work surface and finish bringing it all together before you decide if you need to add more buttermilk.
Handle the scone dough as little as possible. This is why I love the rustic triangle shape. Roll the dough in a round and slice into portions before baking. If you must use cutters, carefully bring the leftover batter together before cutting into additional portions. The more you handle and kneed the dough, the tougher your scones will be.
Line the baking tray with a silicone sheet or baking parchment. When using fresh fruit, there’s going to be a lot of juices oozing out. So lining your tray will make cleaning easier.