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Dropped Scones

A quick griddle scone made by dropping spoonfuls of batter onto a greased griddle.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Dropped Scones

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, sugar, and cream of tartar.

  2. Gradually add the buttermilk, beating well with the back of a spoon.

Cook the scones

  1. Preheat a griddle and grease it with butter or suet.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the griddle.

  3. When bubbles rise on top, turn the scones and fry until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,721 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Cream + buttermilktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together674 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the scones together as they cook.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid in the buttermilk to produce gas that makes the scones rise.
Buttermilk
Supplies the acid that activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.
Cream of tartar
Adds acidity that helps the leavening reaction and keeps the texture light.

The step that matters

Turn the scones when bubbles rise on top. Bubbles form as the leavening gas escapes through the batter surface. Turning too early tears the set base, and waiting too long can scorch the bottom before the centre cooks through.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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