Dan Lepard's ginger beer scones recipe

I first tried these scones, made with plain lemonade, at ­Marilyn and Gary Barker's Patchwork Teahouse, set deep in Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges, and thought they were the softest and lightest I'd ever eaten. They don't have the crisp top ­regular ones do, but they stay moist for days and that's something. Use non-alcoholic ginger beer, and one ­without artificial sweeteners. 425g plain flour 50g icing sugar 1 tsp ground ginger 2½ tsp baking powder 200g crème fraîche 1 large egg 100g chopped glacé or stem ginger 150ml ginger beer Milk, for brushing the top Spoon the flour, icing sugar, ground ginger and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and stir well. In another bowl, beat the crème fraîche, egg and glacé ­or stem ­ginger, then add the ginger beer and stir to ­amalgamate. Pour into the ­mixing bowl and ­gently mix ­until you have a very soft and sticky dough. Flour your work surface very well, then scrape the dough on to it. Don't try to knead it – it's way too sticky for that; just flour the top and pat it out to 2-3cm thick. Cut the flattened dough into discs or squares and place on a flour-dusted tray. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7, brush scone tops with milk and bake for 10-15 minutes, until brown on top. danlepard.com/guardian