Saturday, August 21, 2010

Lavender, Cardamom & Cracked Black Pepper Drop Scones: International Incident Scones Party


International Scones Incident Party

When the theme for this month's International Incident Party was announced  - hosted as ever by the lovely Penny aka Jeroxie, along with August birthday babies Anh of  A food’s lover's journey and  Cherrie of Sweet Cherrie Pie - I must admit that at first I wasn't terribly inspired. Scones. What to do? Unlike many of my fellow party goers,  scones are not a cultural reference point for me. I didn't grow up enjoying scones at tea time.  I don't even know when "tea time" actually is.  I take coffee breaks and eat bagels.  Of course I wanted to make fun and creative scones, but I had no idea where to begin.

But then one day I was flipping channels on the TV, and I caught the end of a cooking show - I don't remember which one - about something called "drop scones." Hmmm. They looked like little pancakes. Ah, pancakes! Now that I can work with. Indeed,  a bit of research taught me that drop scones are also called Scottish pancakes. They differ from typical American breakfast pancakes in that they're smaller and not necessarily sweet, which I found appealing.

I decided to use some fresh lavender I had just found at a Philadelphia farmer's market, along with cardamom and cracked black pepper. I thought - rightly, as it turned out - that the pepper would add bite to the scones and prevent the lavender notes from becoming overpowering or too "perfume-y."  What I really loved about these drop scones is that they worked as either a savory or a sweet dish - you could top them with butter, honey, or powdered sugar, and it worked. They were even good plain, right off of the skillet!


Lavender, Cardamom & Cracked Black Pepper Drop Scones

8 oz. unbleached AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
300 ml buttermilk
1 tsp crushed lavender
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp cardamom
oil, for cooking

Mix together the first five ingredients. Add the eggs and buttermilk and stir until incorporated. Fold in the lavender, pepper, and cardamom:

Now for the fun part! Warm a skillet over medium high heat, and then add just a coating of high smoke point oil, such as canola. When the pan is good and hot, drop little spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet:
When bubbles start to form, it's time to flip your drop scones:
Before you know it, you're looking at a pile of lovely scones:
If you manage to not gobble them all up at once, proceed to drizzle some honey on them:

Or top with some powdered sugar and mint:
Or just keep taking photos of them because they're so darn cute!!

Thanks for joining me for the International Incident Scones Party! Happy Birthday to the August babies, and don't forget to check out all the other awesome scones:





47 comments:

  1. ohmygawsh...they are completely adorable, aren't they!? Plus, those flavors...I am lovin' the combo you chose. I also like that you went for a different take on the scone. Nice =)

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  2. That is great! Drop scones... I can swap that instead of pancakes for weekend brunch. And I have a lavender bush... perfect :D

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  3. My goodness they loos sooo delicious!! Perfecxt for breakfast.

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  4. I am thrilled to learn about drop scones and can't wait to make them! They do look so adorable! And your flavors with lavender, cardamom, and black pepper are absolutely fantastic! Wow!

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  5. This is awesome! Thanks for sharing, I must make this for my Sunday breakfast.
    Please feel free to visit my new site.

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  6. wow this looks amazing and wow the photography is first class love dropped scones

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  7. Wow, these are great! The honey drizzle the perfect finishing touch :)

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  8. oh cool, i've never heard of dropped scones. i love learned new dishes from you. :) the flavors seem so aromatic and delicious. and beautiful photography as always!

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  9. Aww.....they're just so darned cute! Can't blame you for wanting to take all those pictures :) Gorgeous photos, every one of them! Flavour combination is fabulous!!

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  10. I grew up Chinese-American, so I didn't have much of a cultural reference point, like you but I still had a lot of fun with this event. These are so creative. I wish I could try some!

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  11. Mmmm....delicious. These are perfect for breakfast. I like them. Love your pictures :D

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  12. wow trix these looks mouth watering as I salivate here! yum~ happy birthday to all those great foodies, that is so cool how you did that...can't begin to figure out how you did that either....your such a clever girl!

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  13. Love the take on scones! They look like what we in Australia call pikelets - small pancakes - thanks for reminding me about them. Love the flavours you chose :-)

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  14. Happy birthday Leos! I like the exotic flavor combinations of your scone, it certainly is elegant and intriguing - which is very Leo-esque. I also like how approachable this recipe, I'll be trying this soon. It must have smelled heavenly in your kitchen!

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  15. Must have been some kinda party! These are pretty!

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  16. wow they look amazing! I've love to try them =)

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  17. WOW, what a flavour combination. They look gorgeous!

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  18. Drop scones - what a great idea! The flavors you used are unusual, but comforting at the same time. That first photo is beautiful!

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  19. Oh my Gosh, Trix, I've never even heard of a drop scone! What a great way to make them. You know, I can see the perfectness of how your recipe fluffed in the pan. I'm trying it! Thanks...
    Oh, and your photos are so extra great lately. I want to know how to do that;)

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  20. These drop scones are cute and very photogenic! I love your scone concept and all your beautiful photos, would you share some photography tips with the rest of us? Thanks for sharing!

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  21. Very creative idea, these are absolutely delightful :)

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  22. yea.... bite-size savory pancakes... I'll take a dozen - great concept and flavor mix but I really love all the great photos...

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  23. Well, these look out of control! Very cool! Thank you so much for sharing these with me. I will be making them soon..... :-)

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  24. I'm not much of a pancake fan, but these little ones in the form of drop scones sound so interesting that I'll have to give them a try sometime!!

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  25. They are like perfect little pancakes... a little like crumpets, yes. Love lavender in anything so this is a perfect recipe and may I say your photos are amazing, girl... that honey dripping is just phenomenal!

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  26. Interesting combination of lavender and black pepper. Great pics.

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  27. I posted a link of this to my facebook page! :)

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  28. Pancake scones, love it. Like you scones don't have a cultural link for me. I love the perfumes you used.

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  29. so cute and such an unique take on scones :)

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  30. Wow. Those look amazing. I'm in awe.
    And with all of those flavors, I bet they tasted divine too.

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  31. I could eat a million of those...what an unusual combination...

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  32. These are SO adorable! :) I love your use of edible flowers and spice... Two of my favourite things! I think it would be too dangerous for me to make those. I would eat them ALL in one go!

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  33. Hmmm how cute are those? I missed so many of your delicious posts! lavender and honey, you can never go wrong with those two! simply fabulous.

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  34. Love the combination of flavors and I agree they are cute little scones, I'd take lots of pictures of them, too!

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  35. I wouldn't have thought these were scones, but your take on the challenge is really inspired! These look delicious.

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  36. Trix

    Your photos are so beautiful I would say you spent your life as a professional food photographer; your inspiration for these scones is very exotic and sure-footed (if I can use that word!) : cardamom and lavnder and pepper, I would think work well together and I am now dying of curiosity to see what they taste like!

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  37. Just lovely photos and a kinship too. I grow my own lavender and this summer decided to try something different with it other than for scenting my rooms so tried both a lavender lemonade martini and a lavender shortbread. I love the spices you added and am most curious about combining it with pepper.

    You are so right about being cautious with lavender...enough to know it's there without making you feel like you're eating a bar of soap...that pepper would most definitely help; I'll have to try these now that I am most definitely on a 'lavender' kick!

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  38. What can I say? These look perfect! I want them now, NOW I tell you!!! Except that it is too hot to turn on the oven. I will save this recipe for a cooler day. It's lovely, I'm predicting anther top 10 for you

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  39. These are beautiful. I love the lavander and cardamom. Such an exotic flavor profile.

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  40. Hey Trix, I was just dropping by to see what your'e up to lately (smile). I'll be back soon to see again...
    Btw, your photos are so awesome in this post. Some day, Trix. Some day I'll be able to take photos like this too;) Okay, I'm being silly now. Hope your'e doing well. Stella

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  41. Gorgeous photos - loving that honey drizzling on to your scones. Delicious! :D

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  42. I've never tried drop scone before but it looks very much like pancake! I wonder what's the texture is like. A must try recipe! Thanks alot, Trix. This is a fabulous post. Have a nice day.
    Cheers, kristy

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  43. Beautiful beautiful! Lovely flavours and your presentation is amazing!

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  44. This recipe was soooooo tasty. I drizzled lavender honey over them.

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  45. I absolutely love lavendar and cardammom but I've never had them with pepper. I can't wait to try these!

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