Last updated 21:34, Tuesday, 10 June 2008

IN the second of this series on Back to Baking, I am going to make scones – not the ones that are cooked in the oven but those cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan and eaten either hot with jam or cold with butter and/or jam.

Does it matter what you call them? The English, Scottish and Welsh all have different takes on the humble pancake, drop scone or similar – but they all taste superb

They are very quick and easy to make and you may have all the ingredients in your store cupboard so if you have unexpected guests you only need about 10 minutes to impress them with your delicious baking!

With a Scottish mother I was brought up calling them Drop Scones – aptly named because the soft batter mixture is ‘dropped’ onto a hot plate. Once over the border in England I later realised that the same cakes were described as Scotch Pancakes.

These were cooked on a heavy metal ‘girdle’ in Scotland or a ‘griddle’ in England. A good alternative is to cook them in a heavy-based non-stick frying pan and if you have an Aga you can cook them directly onto the cooler hot plate. Nowadays the two names are interchangeable unless you venture over another border to Wales where similar scones are known as Welsh cakes.

Whatever you call them or however you cook them, I guarantee they will be eaten before they get cold!

SCOTCH PANCAKES/DROP SCONES
MAKES about 30 small pancakes. Like all pancakes there is a knack to getting the mixture right – as with all cooking skills the more you do the better they will be. No matter how experienced you are, the first few pancakes will not turn out very well.
Ingredients
225g/8 oz self-raising flour
½ teasp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp unrefined caster sugar
1 med egg, beaten
300ml/ ½ pt milk (add this slowly as you may not need all of this)
Small knob of suet/lard or a little oil.
Method
1. Heat up griddle if you have one, or a heavy based preferably non-stick frying pan. Until moderately hot.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3. Beat in egg and most of milk to make a thick batter. If necessary add a little more milk to give a dropping consistency.
4. Lightly grease the pan. (I find it useful, especially if making a lot, to tie up the fat in a circle of muslin tied up with fine string and use this to grease the pan and re-use as you go along). When the fat is at the right temperature it will look ‘hazy’ but not too hot to burn.
5. Test the temperature by dropping about a dessertspoon of batter on to the hot pan. When bubbles appear all over the surface then flip over with a palette knife or similar. If it is too hot then the pancake will burn and if too cold the bubbles will burst and the underside of the pancake will be too pale and heavy in texture.
6. Cool on a clean teacloth on a wire try and cover with another one-this will keep them soft. Continue until all the batter is used up. Serve warm with butter and jam.

WELSH CAKES
MY Welsh friend Lyndsey gave me this family recipe for Welsh Cakes. These differ from the drop scones as they have a ‘cakier’ texture which results from the addition of fat to the flour and only a small amount of milk so that the mixture is quite stiff and can be rolled out and the cakes stamped out. The cakes contain dried fruit such as currants and are lightly spiced.
Ingredients
50g (2oz) block margarine, softend and cut into cubes
50g (2oz) block lard or butter, softend and cut into cubes
225g (8oz) self-raising flour
3 tablespoon caster sugar
¼ teaspoon mixed spice
Pinch of salt
2 eggs beaten
2 tablespoons currants
A little milk
Method
1. As before heat up the griddle if you have one or a heavy-based preferably non-stick frying pan until moderately hot. Rub the fat into the flour.
2. Add the sugar,spice and salt. Add the beaten eggs and a little milk to make a fairly stiff dough.
3. Roll out the dough and then use a cutter to cut out rounds. Try to work the mixture as little as possible.
4. Cook as the drop scones. 

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