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Dessert

Dropped Scones

A quick batter scone cooked on a griddle, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream 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 baking soda, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt until smooth.

  2. Add the flour and rub in the butter until well combined.

  3. Gradually add buttermilk to form a thick batter, beating well with a wooden spoon.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat a griddle over medium-high heat and grease it with a little fat.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle, leaving about 2 inches between each.

  3. Cook until air bubbles rise and burst, then flip and brown the other side.

  4. Grease the griddle again before adding more batter.

  5. Serve very hot.

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. Butter + creamtop 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. Sugar + creamtop 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.
Butter
Rubbed into the flour to add richness and a tender, crumbly texture.
Buttermilk
Moistens the flour and reacts with the leavening to help the scones rise.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar and buttermilk to produce gas for rising.
Cream of tartar
Provides acidity that activates the baking soda, helping the scones rise.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the scones brown on the griddle.

The step that matters

Cooking over medium-high heat with the batter dropped in spoonfuls. The griddle must be hot enough to set the outside quickly so the scones rise and brown. Spacing them apart lets heat reach each one evenly, and wait for bubbles to burst before flipping so the centre is set.

“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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