The Modern Cook’s Year. Anna Jones

tea. These are everything I want from something baked on a cold day: rounded deep sweetness from molasses, caramel notes from the dates and maltiness from the spelt.

      I have intentionally made them in quite a small batch; they are very quick to whip up and taste much more decadent than their ingredients might suggest. You can use whatever black tea you like here – I love the bergamot kick of Earl Grey, brewed strong, but I can imagine a smoky lapsang souchong might be amazing.

      MAKES 6

      125g pitted dates

      150ml freshly brewed strong black or Earl Grey tea

      125g wholegrain spelt flour

      2 teaspoons baking powder

      ¼ teaspoon ground allspice

      ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt

      30g cold unsalted butter, cubed

      1 tablespoon molasses

      75g buttermilk or thin natural yoghurt

      FOR THE GLAZE

      1 organic or free-range egg

      1 tablespoon milk

      a handful of rolled oats

      Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

      Soak the dates in the hot tea for 15 minutes, until the tea has cooled a little. Mix together the flour, baking powder, allspice and salt with your fingertips, then add the butter until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. You could also do this by pulsing it in a food processor.

      Drain, then roughly chop the dates and add them to the mix, along with the molasses and buttermilk. Mix slowly and lightly until the mixture forms a soft but not too sticky dough. Shape into a rough round ball, place on your prepared tray and use a knife to score across the top to mark out 6 portions, stopping before the knife reaches the tray; it should look a bit like a loaf of soda bread.

      Mix the egg and milk for the glaze with a pinch of salt and brush it over the top, then sprinkle with the oats, pressing them into the dough lightly to stick them down.

      Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the tray and reduce the heat to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4 and continue to bake for about 10 more minutes, until the top is a dark golden brown and when you turn the scone over and tap it, it sounds hollow. Serve warm from the oven and break up as required. The scones are very good with the curd here.

Brewing your own kombucha

      We have been drinking kombucha for years, mostly when I have travelled to visit my sister in LA where it seems to be as available as water. When I started drinking it every day I noticed really positive changes in how I was feeling. Back home I have found it harder to get my hands on and it’s very expensive so I started brewing it myself. I am sure it has helped us ward off a few winter colds.

      Kombucha is a drink that’s been around for thousands of years. It’s a sweet fermented green or black tea with a bubbly character that I think is totally delicious. Kombucha has been widely praised as being good for you as it contains digestion-supporting probiotic enzymes that lots of us are lacking in our diets. It supports the healthy bacteria in our guts and can help improve our digestion and how we absorb the nutrients from our food. By making kombucha yourself it will be completely raw (some commercial ones are pasteurised) so it has maximum health benefits; you can also control the fizziness and how long it’s brewed to your taste.

      The first thing I will say is that I’m not an expert; brewing kombucha is a huge topic and there are books and blogs entirely devoted to the subject. The brewing process is pretty simple: all you need is a bit of time, food (sugar) and good bacteria to create the brew (the scoby). Outlined below is how I brew mine and so far it’s been very successful. Before I started I was quite daunted by the process but after you’ve done it once you’ll get into the rhythm and it becomes really easy. Before you brew I recommend you read this explanation a couple of times; it may look like a lot of information but if you have a level of understanding it makes the process easier and quicker.

      The scoby

      The scoby, which stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast, is what you will need to ferment your tea. A scoby is a very strange-looking thing that I am weirdly fascinated by; it is like a big rubbery pancake. You can buy scobys online but as they are live they multiply so there are lots out in the world waiting for owners. A kombucha-brewing friend will have one or a quick search on the internet will probably unearth one for free.

      The water

      Filtered or at the very least boiled water is essential for kombucha brewing as some of the chemicals in tap water can affect the fermentation process.

      The tea

      You can use black or green tea but I prefer the flavour of my kombucha when it’s made with green and it will be lower in caffeine. Flavoured and herbal teas don’t work, as I discovered when I tried to make a batch with Earl Grey; it’s best to add any flavours after brewing. The caffeine in kombucha contains only about a third of that in brewed tea.

      The sugar

      The scoby and the fermentation are fed with sugar. It may seem like you are adding a lot of sugar but during the brewing process it will turn from a very sweet tea into something far less so.

      The alcohol

      Whilst your kombucha is brewing, it will contain a very small amount of alcohol, about 0.5 per cent. It’s all part of the fermentation process, but it’s something to bear in mind if people are sensitive to alcohol and I certainly wouldn’t give kombucha to children.

      The equipment

      — 1 large or a couple of smaller teapots or jugs to brew your tea

      — 1 × 5- or 6-litre jar or kombucha crock (mine has a tap at the bottom)

      — a clean piece of tea towel or muslin to cover

      — a piece of string or a rubber band

      — a funnel

      — 4 × 1-litre bottles to store your finished kombucha

      The ingredients

      — 1 scoby

      — 500ml pre-made kombucha tea (shop-bought or from your last batch)

      — 250g sugar (I use golden caster sugar)

      — 4 litres filtered or boiled water

      — 2 heaped tablespoons green or black tea

      The method

      First brew your tea. Bring your 4 litres of pre-boiled or filtered water to the boil and pour it over the tea leaves of your choice; I do this in a couple of teapots and measuring jugs. Let it steep for 20–30 minutes, so it’s good and strong.

      Add the sugar, stir to dissolve then allow the tea to cool. This step is important as the scoby will die if it’s too hot.

      Remove any metal jewellery and from this point on don’t use any metal sieves or spoons as they react with the scoby. Get the jar or crock you are using for the brewing and pour in the pre-made kombucha. Add the cooled tea, then carefully place the scoby on top of the mixture. Cover the jar with a piece of fabric and secure it with string or a rubber band. Some kitchen paper would also work; you just want air to be able to pass into the jar. Place the kombucha container in a place where it will not be disturbed, out of direct sunlight. I leave mine on my work surface where I can keep an eye on it.

      The fermentation can take anything from 7–14 days, depending on the heat of the room, the scoby and how you like your kombucha. The longer you leave it the more acidic it will become. During the brewing process it’s normal to see things happening in the brew: the scoby moving, bubbles of air. After a few days the surface of the tea will start to look opaque, this is your new scoby forming and a very good sign.

      How long to brew?

      After