Description: tender tea flavored scones with a lavender glaze. These are best eaten a day or two within baking, but they freeze well. Bring to room temperature of pop in a 350 oven for a few minutes.
INGREDIENTS
Earl Grey Scones
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 heaping tablespoons loose leaf earl grey tea, ground up in mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or blender/food processor
- 1vanilla bean pod, seeds removed (pod reserved for later)
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1 cup heavy cream, plus more as needed
- 1 large egg
Earl grey lavender glaze
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 heaping tablespoons culinary lavender, plus more for decorating scones
- 1 heaping tablespoon loose leaf earl grey tea
- Reserved vanilla bean pod
- 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus more as needed
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, ground tea, and vanilla bean in a medium mixing bowl. Grate the stick of butter into the dry ingredients. (Wearing plastic gloves will help keep the butter cold). Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work the butter into the flour until there are pea-sized butter pieces in the flour.
- Whisk eggs in a small bowl. Pour the beaten eggs and heavy cream into the bowl with the butter/flour mixture. Using a spatula, mix all ingredients until all of the liquid ingredients are absorbed and form a dough. If the flour is not picking up in the dough, sprinkle a little more heavy cream to moisten the flour so it sticks. Be careful to not overwork the dough.
- Once the dough has formed, dump it onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press the dough into a square or rectangle that is about a half inch thick. Using a metal bench scraper or chef ’s knife cut the dough in half horizontally. Then make diagonal cuts across each half to create triangle-shaped scones. Gently lift each scone onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the baking sheet in the fridge to chill while making the glaze.
- For the glaze, put the lavender, tea leaves, and reserved vanilla pod in a heavy-bottomed pan with the milk. Gently heat the milk until it comes to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the ingredients steep for five minutes. Strain the steeped milk and discard the tea leaves/lavender/vanilla pod.
- While the milk is cooling, set the oven at 400 degrees. Once the milk reaches room temperature, whisk in the confectioner’s sugar. If you want a thicker glaze, add more sugar.
- Place the chilled sheet of scones into the oven and bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Transfer to a wire rack and allow scones to cool. Using a pastry brush, coat each cooled scone with the glaze and sprinkle with additional lavender. Allow glaze to set before eating or freezing.
Catie Cooks 