• Preheat oven to 425⁰. Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.
• To rehydrate the currants, place them in a small bowl. Pour about 1 cup of boiling water over them and allow this to sit for about 20 minutes. Strain or squeeze water out of currants before adding them to the dough.
• Sift flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar into a bowl. Stir in brown sugar. Using a pastry cutter or cold fingertips, cut the butter pieces into the dries until the pieces of butter are like small peas. Stir in the currants.  
• Add milk all at once and mix just until integrated. Turn dough onto floured cloth or board and gather into a ball. You may need to absorb a little of the extra flour for this step, but be careful to not over handle your dough. Use a very light touch. Remember, as our British au pair once told me, “The keys to good scones are cold hands and a warm heart!” 💕
• Roll the dough ball out to about 1 ¼ inch in thickness. Cut dough into 8 triangles for large scones, or 12 triangles for smaller scones. Or, you can also use a biscuit cutter dipped in flour if you prefer round scones.
  
• Place scones on prepared baking sheet and bake for approximately 12-14 minutes, or until the tops begin to turn golden-brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before icing.
  

Make the Icing

• While the scones are baking, it’s time to make the icing. Simply blend the sifted powered sugar with the milk and vanilla using a whisk or fork. If it’s too runny, add a little more sugar, and if it’s too thick, then add more milk, a tiny bit at a time!
  
• Drizzle the icing over the cooled scones with a whisk and then top with sliced almonds. Reheat to serve, or serve at room temp. These scones store very well in the refrigerator or freezer, but just let the icing harden before you wrap them up to freeze.