Preheat the oven to 220°c (200 fan/ Gas 7) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the bicarbonate of soda and salt
450 g Self Raising Flour, 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda, ½ teaspoon Salt
Rub the cold cubed butter in with your hands until you get a breadcrumb consistency.
100 g Butter
Stir in the sugar with a metal knife.
50 g Caster Sugar
Add the buttermilk to the flour, along with the glace cherries and almond extract. Use the metal knife to mix it in.
300 ml Buttermilk, 1 teaspoon Almond Extract, 120 g Glacé Cherries
Use your hands to form a dough, handling it as little as possible. You don't want the dough to get warm.
Flour a worktop or wooden board and using your hands (no need for a rolling pin), shape it into a round, about 4cm thick. Use a biscuit cutter to stamp out the scones (try not to twist the cutter otherwise the tops will bake unevenly). Depending on the size of the biscuit cutter, you should get around 8-10 scones from the recipe (I personally find a 5cm cutter works best). You'll need to reform the dough a few times to get the maximum amount of scones from the dough.
Place the scones on a non-stick baking tray (you can line your baking tray if you wish) and glaze the tops with milk, and sprinkle with flaked almonds and demerara sugar, if using. Bake for 12-14 minutes.
3 tablespoon Milk, 2 tablespoon Demerara Sugar, 2 tablespoon Flaked Almonds