Misc Queen Elizabeth's Pancakes (griddle scones)

[Melodi]

Queen Elizabeth was a tad unusual in that she seems to have really liked to cook, especially on those Balmoral vacations when special guests such as the Prime Minister or foreign heads of State would be invited to relax informally with the royal family. I thought this was a lovely article with a great recipe for the "pancakes" or griddle scones that Mimi Eisenhower asked her for after spending such a vacation with the Royals. I actually think I might try to make this - though I suspect it fed 16 people with 1950s portions, four cups of flour today would probably make enough to feed six to eight hungry people, but I haven't tried it yet. Also, the scones are thick so they may have been a lot smaller,

The Queen's recipe for PANCAKES goes viral in the wake of her death

Royal family fanatics brought the late Queen's beloved pancake recipe to the top of foodies lists when they posted the monarch's favorite recipe on Reddit.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The full article is a long UK daily mail one with a lot of pictures but can be read at the link and is rather fun! Instead of tea cups just use cups - it is the portions that matter here.
But here is just the recipe:

Here's what you'll need to perfect the monarch's sugary treat:

Four teacups of flour
Four tablespoons of caster sugar
Two teacups of milk
Two whole eggs
Two teaspoons of bicarbonate soda
Three teaspoons of cream tartar
Two tablespoons of melted butter
Next you'll need to 'beat eggs, sugar, and about half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together, adding the remainder of milk as required, also bicarbonate and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter'

And you'll need to give the mixture a 'great deal of beating' before placing soft dollops onto the griddle

 

[Chicory]

Thanks, I'll try this!

 

[WalknTrot]

Looks more or less like my no-recipe, scratch pancakes. I do baking powder and a few drops of vinegar in the milk to make them raise nice and fluffy (or buttermilk if I have it). Otherwise...eggs, flour, milk (maybe a little sugar) and some kind of leavening, and you have yourself pancake batter. Make it as thick or thin as you like.

 

[Melodi]

My guess is going to be that if they are "drop scones" they are intended to be thicker, more like what Americans tend to call "pancakes" than Europeans do.

Over here, a pancake is more like a crepe, and I also have a Master Recipe that I have in my handwritten recipe book that has two versions one says: For Europeans, the other says For Americans. The difference is just extra liquid and maybe an extra egg for the Europeans.

Scones are what the English call biscuits (biscuits here are cookies, though that is changing with TV, we now have American Cookies as well as English or Irish Biscuits). Except that scones almost always have eggs in them which makes them a different texture from American biscuits.

So a griddle Scone can be either a thick drop pancake or in Ireland or Scotland they would be heavy scone dough (think enough to make into a large rectangle by hand) cooked on a cast iron griddle. Usually, they are sliced into triangles just before or just after being turned over. But "potato scones" in Ireland are often kept in one, big round shape like a pizza base.

Anyway, I also see this recipe got onto the main page and is now the front page on Skynews.com, so it looks fun to try and is a nice way I think for "Yanks" (that's what they call all Americans over here) to honor both The English Queen and a respected American First Lady.

 

[WiWatcher]

What is the volume of a teacup?

 

[Melodi]

What is the volume of a teacup?

Basically, it is probably between 1/2 and 2/3rds of a cup but because Elizabeth says the flour to baking powder/baking soda is the same if she makes slightly different sized batches, and the "serves 16 people" I would try it using American cups and see if it works. A lot of really old American cookbooks use the same measure and again, old-fashioned t-cups are smaller than modern American "tea mugs."

I would do it the first time as written, but the work with the recipe because English/Irish Baking Soda and American baking soda are not the same. They claim that it is, but if you use the same amounts of baking soda from this side of the water in an American recipe it comes out yellow and tastes horrific. I buy my baking soda from places that have the American version (including Asian markets because a lot of the baking in South East Asia came in with American GIs and they use the American version).

I believe the thread on the main also mentioned there are "Americanized" versions of this recipe floating around on line and if anyone sees one, feel free to post as that would make it easier all around.

 

[packyderms_wife]

What is the volume of a teacup?

I'll have to trot one of those poor crystal tea cups that's been sitting out on the drive way last week, clean it up, fill with water and then measure the water. But I suspect it's one cup if filled to the brim, which one would never do with tea.