29-05-2025
We celebrate ‘National Scone Day' with Anna Polyviou as she rates our staff's homemade scones
Anna Polyviou is a pastry chef known for creating wacky takes on desserts and creative cakes.
Today, she is cooking buttermilk scones with tea-soaked raisins.
TEA RAISIN BUTTERMILK SCONES
INGREDIENTS
400g Plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
60g Caster (superfine) sugar
2tsp Baking powder.
160g Unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch Sea Salt
2 Egg
160ml Buttermilk
1tsp Vanilla bean paste
1 Egg yolk, whisked.
EARL GREY TEA SULTANAS
2tsp Loose leaf Earl Grey tea (250ml boiling water)
100g Sultanas (golden raisins)
SERVE WITH
Cream & Jam
HOW TO
1. Place the raisins, into strained Earl Grey tea. Cover and allow to cool up to 1 week in the fridge.
2. To make the scones, put the dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add a pinch of salt and the butter, then beat on low speed for 5 minutes until the mixture is crumbly.
3. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla bean paste. Gradually add this mixture to the flour mixture. Mix on high speed for 2–3 minutes, until the dough comes together and there are no crumbs in the bottom of the bowl.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into two halves. Gently knead one portion of dough into a rectangle shape and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Lightly knead the sultanas (strained tea) into the remaining dough portion, form into a rectangle shape and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly spray two baking trays with baking spray.
7. Roll out each dough portion to a thickness of 2 cm (¾ inch). Use a 5.5 cm (2¼ inch) circle cutter
to cut out discs. Try not to touch the dough, as this makes it shrink just hold the side of the cutter ring and push down.
8. Arrange the scones, flat side up, on the prepared baking trays. Brush the tops of the sultana scones with the egg yolk and lightly dust the tops of the plain scones with the extra plain flour. Set aside for 1 hour to allow the gluten to relax.
9. Bake the scones for 10-12 minutes, until just golden. Wait a couple of minutes, then eat them straight away, served with clotted cream and your favourite jam.
