Raymond Tan & Audrey Payne’s Wholemeal Scone Recipe

Bring something unexpected to your high tea with Raymond Tan and Audrey Payne’s Wholemeal Scone recipe.

Where most scone recipes lean into lightness, this one takes a more considered approach. The addition of wholemeal flour gives each scone a subtle nuttiness and a slightly more complex crumb, without sacrificing that tender, golden-bottomed lift you want from a truly great scone.

Raymond Tan is a self taught Melbourne based baker who has garnered global recognition for his inventive approach to baking, drawing on Southeast Asian flavours and an understanding of texture and technique.

Served warm with clotted cream and your favourite jam, these scones are at home on any high tea spread.

Images and text from You’re Welcome! By Raymond Tan with Audrey Payne, photography by Louise Hagger. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.

Ingredients:

• 50 g (1¾ oz) wholemeal flour
• 350 g (2⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 50 g (⅓ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
• 15 g (½ oz) baking powder
• 6 g (1 teaspoon) fine salt
• 120 g (4¼ oz) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 2 eggs
• 125 g (½ cup) buttermilk, chilled
• 5 g (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with a splash of milk, for eggwash

Raymond Tan with Audrey Payne,

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking trays with baking paper. Add the wholemeal flour, plain flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until coarse and sandy, about 1 minute. (Alternatively, whisk the dry ingredients together, then rub in the cold butter with your fingertips.)
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla to combine.
3. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until a dough just comes together. Make sure there are no big lumps of butter or irregularities in the dough but take care not to overwork it.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gather the dough and very gently knead it a few times until it just comes together. You shouldn’t need to knead the dough more than 10 times.
5. Use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough into a sheet about 4 cm (1½ inches) thick.
6. Lightly flour a round cutter. Press the cutter straight down into the dough (do not twist the cutter), then remove the dough and place it on a lined baking tray. Repeat until you can’t make any more cutouts without rolling out the dough again.
7. Gather the scraps together and roll them back out until you have a 4 cm (1½ inches) thick piece of dough. Repeat the cutting and rolling steps until you have 12 scones.
8. Brush the tops of the scones with eggwash and bake until the bottoms are golden, about 12–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the scones on the baking trays to cool at room temperature. Scones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.

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