Dropped Scones

...or Scotch Pancakes if you aren't, somewhat ironically, Scottish. These are the smaller version of those rather alarming stacks that Americans have with maple syrup and bacon as a breakfast. It's no wonder that America has had so many of the tallest buildings when you look at the height of their breakfasts.
These are very much a tea time consumable. And when I say tea I mean a meal eaten at about 7 o'clock on a Sunday comprising fruit cake, crumpets, bread, scones, jams, cream, butter and gallons of tea. It's what my mother calls Scottish High Tea (capitalisation entirely called for) and I suppose it's similar in form to English Afternoon Tea, only taken later. I think this is mainly because it's eaten on a day when you'll have eaten a proper 'dinner' at lunchtime. The problem with calling things lunch, dinner and tea is that they mean different things depending where you come from and what your parents called things. And how pretentious you are...
This recipe come from my mother, who has been making these for ever. She has the recipe written on a card in a recipe box. The card is covered in splatters of 'oops a bit of egg!' and 'whoops a splash of milk!' and a telltale see through grease spot of vegetable oil. This is a sure sign of a great recipe. This recipe came from her mother, and presumably her mother also. Its measurements are all '3 serving spoons of this, half a teacup of this' but as I have different utensils to my mother I have converted it into cold, hard measurements. I assured her it was for the betterment of mankind.

Ingredients

Makes 20

100g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
60g caster sugar
pinch salt
2-3tbs vegetable or sunflower oil
1 large egg
100ml semi skimmed milk

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
Mix the oil, egg and two thirds of the milk together in a jug. Put this in the well in the flour and mix together to make a smooth batter, adding the remaining milk if you need it. It's difficult to say if it will be necessary to use all the milk as flour has different absorbency rates depending on brand, age and even temperature. If you have used all the milk and still need more liquid, add a splash of water. The consistency should be the same as thick but not set yoghurt. Leave to stand for ten minutes.
To cook these you need a very flat non-stick frying pan or a griddle pan. I have one that sits across two gas burners, one side is flat and one side is ridged. Needless to say I need the flat side here!
If you're using Teflon coated cookware you probably won't need any oil at all but it's better to be safe than sorry. No point crying over stuck dropped scones. I tend to put a tablespoons worth of vegetable oil on to a saucer and dip a wad of kitchen paper in it, then wipe it over the surface of the hot pan. You just want a very small amount. I repeat this before each batch.
Using a serving spoon (or there about) drop the batter onto the hot pan. They should only spread a little and you're looking for a diameter of about 2 inches. My pan makes about 8 at a go, but a normal sized frying pan will take three or four. Once you see bubbles forming on the surface of the scone, you can turn it over to cook the other side. They should take about a minute each side. They will go a quite dark brown, the same colour as chocolate milk.
I keep a plate with a clean tea towel laid over it to put them on. As each batch is cooked I put them on the tea towel then cover them up. This helps keep them warm and stops them drying out. And it's what my mum always does.
We always have these as we would eat a cream tea. Soft whipped cream and strawberry jam, but also apricot jam, which is not the done thing with a Cornish style cream tea. They are also very good when toasted and buttered, but I would only do this if I had day old ones. Fresh ones should be devoured in an orgiastic cream and jam fashion. And believe me, 20 will be just about sufficient for 2 people, as they are horrendously easy to eat.