Chocolate chip scones

Preheat the oven to 400F.

In a big bowl combine the flour, brown sugar (clumps broken up), granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk.

Cut the ice-cold butter into pieces and work it into the flour by hand (or with a pastry cutter or two knives) until in smallish pieces, neither too small nor too big.

Mix in the chocolate chips and refrigerate the bowl briefly.

Whisk the cold heavy cream, cold egg and vanilla.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Add the wet mixture to the dry while mixing with a spatula to a shaggy mixture without overmixing or smushing the butter; fold in the powdery bits.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a three-quarter-inch square.

Cut in half, stack and pat back to three-quarter inch; cut and stack once more for layers.

Pat into a seven-inch disc and cut with a bench scraper into halves, quarters, then eighths; transfer to the lined sheet.

Chill in the fridge about 15 minutes or freeze 5 to 15 minutes until firm (frozen scones keep a month and bake from frozen).

Brush the tops, not the sides, with a little cream; sprinkle with turbinado sugar and optionally a few chocolate chips.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway, until golden and puffed (the oven figure is said here as '100 degrees', against the 400F preheat).