Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Pile 50g of the strong bread flour onto the work surface, ready to fold your sticky soft scone dough into (briskness and efficiency are crucial in scone making!).

Next, mix the plain flour with 1-2 tsp of cold water and work until it is a thick, shaggy mess. Allow to stand as you mix up the scone dough as the flour will continue to absorb the water and you don't want it too sloppy or the crosses you pipe will be messy. Leave to the side for now.

Sift the spice and 450g of the bread flour together then rub in the soft butter with your hands or a spatula if you prefer.

Stir in the sugar, dried fruit, and then the baking powder.

Whisk the eggs into the milk with the orange extract or zest and pour in about half - bring the dough together and dribble in more milk mix until you have a soft and sticky dough. It should be stickier than you think (trust me!).

Here comes the magic bit – use the extra flour on the worktop to dust the top of the dough as you pat it out and fold it in half, turning by 90 degrees each time until you have incorporated most of the flour. Repeat 4 or 5 times and the dough will no longer be sticky and the extra flour should have been worked in. This is "chaffing" up the dough and it builds up flaky layers in the scones.

Pat out to 1.5-2 inches thick (I love my scones very tall) and use a well floured scone cutter to stamp out as many as you can manage. As always, the second pass scones rise a little less from the extra “work” of patting the dough back out.

Sit on a floured baking tray fairly close together and brush the tops with the little bit of milk and egg mixture you are likely to have leftover.

Check the flour and water for the cross and if you must, dribble in tiny amounts of water at a time to make it slightly thicker than toothpaste. Scoop into a piping or food bag, snip off 3-4mm and pipe crosses on top of the scones then get them straight in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes until very well risen, browned and sound hollow when you tap their bums.