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Dessert

Deopped Scones

Drop Scones are small, quick cakes dropped onto a hot griddle and cooked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Deopped Scones

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together.

  2. Add the egg and enough buttermilk to make a smooth batter. Beat well.

Cook the scones

  1. Grease a hot griddle or baking sheet with suet or fat bacon.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle until full.

  3. When the scones are brown underneath and covered with bubbles on top, turn with a knife. Brown the other side.

Serve

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the main structure that holds the scones together as they cook.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds richness and structure as it sets.
Cream of tartar
Provides acid that reacts with baking soda to help the scones rise.
Baking soda
Releases carbon dioxide with the acid, lifting the batter so the scones puff.
Buttermilk
Adds moisture and mild acidity, keeping the scones tender and helping the rise.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown on the griddle.

The step that matters

Turning the scones. Turn them only when the underside is browned and bubbles have formed on top. The bubbles show the batter has set enough to hold its shape. Turning too early tears the scones and leaves the centre raw and wet.

“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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