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