It’s Monday morning as I write this post in advance for Tuesday. The Queen’s funerary procession is on TV live across the room. It’s 8:30 a.m. here in Canada’s capital – just in time to make the Queen’s Favourite Pancakes for breakfast…
The Queen’s Drop Scones: Looking more like English Mufflin, light and
fluffy, and a favourite with visitors to the Royal Estate at Balmoral.
And we are proud to present a rare look into the Royal Pantry to share the late Queen’s favourite Pancake Recipe. It’s a historical exercise in many ways: the details of how to make them come from a copy of a personal letter to U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower who sampled them during a visit to Balmoral in 1960. Ike asked for the recipe and she gracefully passed it along…
The letter to Eisenhower read: “Seeing a picture of you in today’s newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral.
“I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you will find them successful.”
A simple formula
It’s a simple formula, headed ‘Drop Scones’, as the Brits call them, typed on a royal repast Menu Card:
A simple recipe, quick to mix up and quicker to cook. Note: the base recipe
serves 16! Yes, you can scale it down, with certain caveats (see below).
Additional tips…
When there were fewer diners around the breakfast table, The Queen advised: ‘When there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk but use other ingredients as stated. I have also tried using golden syrup or treacle instead of only sugar, and that can be very good too.”
In any case, she counseled ‘a great deal of beating’ – we presume, to incorporate a lot of air into the mixture for lightness and fluffiness – and not to let the batter stand too long before dropping by dollops, onto a hot griddle and pan frying.
So get to it!
I’ll bet you have all the ingredients in your pantry. Make the Queen’s Drop Scones for breakfast today!
~ Maggie J.