The Queen's Drop Scone Pancakes

The news of Queen Elizabeth's passing hit all the news service wires and had broad television coverage yesterday. I never met the queen and cannot claim any quaint stories of royal encounters like the ones many are telling, but I did try her pancake recipe, just last year. It's the recipe the young Queen Elizabeth shared with President Eisenhower when she visited the U.S. 

Here is my post from August 25, 2021. they are lovely pancakes, indeed. One word of caution, however. When the recipe says "Serves 16" it means you'll get 16 small pancakes.

I found out about these pancakes by chance when I was watching one of those antique shows on television. Someone was showing a wooden lap desk and mentioned that inside the desk was the pancake recipe that Queen Elizabeth sent to President Eisenhower. It piqued my interest. I thought, surely, I could find that recipe online, and I did. You’ll find it here at Hello! Magazine, but I will also share the recipe below and tell you about my experience preparing it. I had to look up and translate some of the British terms such as “castor sugar” and “teacup.”

 

The Queen's drop scone recipe

Serves 16

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for the Queen's drop scones

• 4 teacups flour (a teacup, is about ¾ cup measure, or 190 mL – I had to look that up)
• 4 tablespoons caster sugar (i.e., confectioner’s sugar)
• 2 teacups milk (or 1½ cups)
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (i.e. baking soda)
• 3 teaspoons cream of tartar (you may substitute with 4½ t. baking powder – 1½ t. for each t. of cream of tartar – I looked that up, too)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (I used a plant-based butter substitute)

INSTRUCTIONS

How to make the Queen's drop scones

Step 1

Beat the eggs, sugar and about half the milk together.

Step 2

Add the flour and mix well together, adding the remainder of milk as required.

Step 3

Add the bicarbonate and cream of tartar, then fold in the melted butter.

Step 4

Heat a frying or griddle pan with some melted butter in. Pour in two or three large spoonfuls of the batter (make sure they don't touch each other) – these will be your drop scones or 'Scotch pancakes'.

(I used a ¼ cup measure to pour the batter for each pancake, and it worked out perfectly)

Step 5

When the batter is bubbling on top, flip over each drop scone. They are ready when each side is slightly browned.

Step 6

Serve with whatever you fancy: fresh fruit, maple syrup, jam, you decide!

*  *   *

These pancakes don’t soak up the syrup the way typical pancakes do, which some will see as a plus (soggy pancakes can be a drag). When I took my first bite, I realized that these pancakes would be perfect for strawberry shortcake. I went to the grocery store that very day and bought some fresh strawberries and whipped cream so I could use the remaining pancakes for a dessert that evening. I made it simple, just cut up the strawberries and tossed them with some confectioner's sugar and with a can of Reddi-whip built the dessert.

As noted above, I used baking powder in place of the cream of tartar since I did not have the latter on hand. I looked up online the conversion ratio of 1 ½ teaspoons for each 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar.

The second time I made this recipe, I bought some cream of tartar so I could prepare them exactly like the Queen did. The result was essentially the same, I could tell no difference in appearance or taste. What was surprising, though, was that the cream of tartar begins working immediately, right in the bowl the batter begins rising even as you are scooping it out to the griddle!

I read that cream of tartar is a by-product of winemaking. I don’t know how anyone figured out the culinary benefits of the product, but there you go.

I hope you will try this recipe and use if for breakfast pancakes or for strawberry shortcake, and I hope you will fondly remember the Queen and me when you do.

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