Fluffy scones fresh from the oven are hard to resist, not least for their delicious smell but also their unbeatable flavour.

Topped with jam and clotted cream the baked delights are perfect with a cup of tea, and they couldn't be easier to make from scratch.

Cooking icon Nigella Lawson has revealed her unique take on the classic recipe, with a formula that contains two lesser-known ingredients.

Sharing the recipe from her book, 'How to be a Domestic Goddess', Nigella claimed: "These are the best scones I’ve ever eaten, which is quite how it should be since they emanate from one of those old-fashioned cooks who starts a batch the minute the door-bell rings at teatime."

According to the British chef, the perfectly fluffy results are down to one ingredient, the cream of tartar, which is responsible for their "dreamy lightness".

Nigella's scones recipe

Ingredients

500 grams of plain flour

One teaspoon salt

Two teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda

Four and a half teaspoons of cream of tartar

50g cold unsalted butter (diced)

25g Trex vegetable shortening in teaspoon lumps (or use another 25g/two tablespoons butter)

300ml milk

One large egg (beaten, for egg wash)

Method

For perfectly rounded scones, a 6.5 cm crinkle-edge round cutter is essential, plus a lightly greased baking tray.

First, preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/gas mark then take a large mixing bowl and sift in the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar.

Add the butter and Trex vegetable shortening (if using), and rub between your fingers to combine with the dry ingredients.

Continue to rub the mixture until it resembles damp sand, then add in the milk all at once. Mix everything together briefly then turn out the dough onto a clean, floured surface.

Knead the dough lightly before rolling it out to a thickness of about 3cm. Now dip the cutter in some flour then stamp out about 10 scones.

You can get 12 from the dough but it may need to be re-rolled for the final two. When re-rolled and cut out, place the scone circles onto the baking tray "very close together", Nigella urged.

She said: "The idea is that they bulge and stick together on cooking - then brush the tops with the egg-wash. Put in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until risen and golden."

Nigella says the scones should "always" be eaten freshly baked, preferably still warm from the oven, with clotted cream and jam. Alternatively, try her "favourite" toppings; black treacle and clotted cream - a combination known as "thunder and lightning".