Lucky dip - drop scones, the Queen, Winnie-the-Pooh and golden syrup

"Winnie-the-Pooh came over all funny, and had to hurry home for a little snack of something to sustain him."

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

So many things to talk about from just one simple lucky dip. And I chose to do a lucky dip because I was feeling a bit down, although now that I see it is Winnie-the-Pooh again, and the sun is coming out, I feel a bit better.

This lovely little book came up a long time ago and the recipe then was Toad in the hole. I think I also talked about Winnie-the-Pooh and Katie Stewart, the author of the cookbook so I won't repeat myself here, besides there's a lot more to write about.

This time the cover of the book is particularly appropriate because the recipe I turned to was for drop scones, which are actually a kind of pancake. A bit like American pancakes or blinis, but sweet, I suppose - thicker than a traditional pancake or crêpe and therefore a bit longer to cook - but not long.

They come from Scotland and I don't think I have ever had them. There is no Scottish in our family history - well not so far discovered anyway - so maybe that's the reason.

The pancakes we had at home were the thin ones that you toss. You don't toss these, you just flip them. But they are supposedly extremely yummy and very popular with children, so next time we have all the grandchildren here maybe I'll make some - or get them to make them.

"Drop scones (aka scotch pancakes) are quick and easy to make, but look rather impressive, so your children will feel a sense of achievement (not to say hunger) if you involve them in making the batter and arranging the scones. ... Of everything we cook, these vanish the fastest. In fact it's like some sort of speeded-up 1910 black-and-white film. We put the plate of scones down and 30 seconds later the entire lot have disappeared." The Guardian

I found several other writers who said much the same thing. One guy said that he once ate 24 in one sitting! Not good for you at all, but very yummy. And because they're not the other kind of pancake you feel you can eat them any time and not just on Pancake Day. Because that's sort of what happens isn't it? Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall had quite a little tantrum about it.

"Me, I blame Pancake Day. As Shrove Tuesday was surreptitiously secularised and gradually gave up its name to the food we traditionally eat on that day, you'd have thought God's loss would have been the pancake's gain. But no, the very opposite effect took place. Far from being celebrated, pancakes were relegated to once-a-year-and-only-then-if-your-mum-or-school-caterer-remembers status."

In fact he went on to rant even more about special days in the year - such as Breast Cancer Day - saying that it implied that you could then safely not think about it for the rest of the time. And I guess he's sort of right, but maybe if you had no special day you wouldn't think about these issues at all - and maybe you would never, ever, ever eat pancakes. Which would be a great shame. And besides you wouldn't have all those pancake races and things that are such fun. But I digress.

Back to the Winnie-the Pooh Cookbook. Here is the recipe (with the lovely illustration that was on the same page):

DROP SCONES (makes 24)

225g (or 8 rounded tablespoons) self-raising flour

1/2 level teaspoon salt

10g butter

25g (or 1 rounded tablespoon) caster sugar

1 egg

1 dessertspoon golden syrup

190ml ( or 1 teacupful) milk

Find a medium-sized mixing bowl, a sieve, a wooden spoon for mixing and small bowl for the egg. You will also need a large heavy-based frying pan, a dessertspoon and palette knife for cooking the scones and a clean tea-cloth to keep them warm.

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing basin. Add the butter and rub into the mixture. Add the sugar, stir well and hollow out the centre of the ingredients.

Crack the egg into a small bowl, add the syrup and mix together with a fork. Pour the egg mixture into the centre of the flour and add the milk. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture from the centre gradually drawing in the flour from around the sides of the bowl. Mix to a thick batter. Add a further tablespoon of milk if the mixture is too thick - it should feel like heavy cream.

Lightly grease the frying pan with a buttered paper and set over moderate heat. When the pan is hot, drop the mixture by dessertspoonfuls on to the surface. Cook gently and when bubbles start to burst on the surface and the underside is brown, turn over and cook on the second side for a few moments.

Cook the scones in batches and as they are ready, lift them from the pan and place in a folded cloth to keep them warm. Grease the pan each time with the buttered paper before cooking the next batch of scones. As the pan gets hot it is best to hold the paper with an oven glove.

Serve the drop scones warm with butter and jam, or, of course, honey.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has a few more recommendations of ways to serve them:

· Try a little pat of melting butter and a good spoonful of honey.

· Go American, and serve for breakfast with crisp bacon and maple syrup.

· Make a spiced butter to melt on to drop scones: beat ground cinnamon, some lemon zest and a little soft, brown sugar into softened butter. Chill until set, then slice into discs.

· Try adding a couple of tablespoonfuls of sultanas to the scone batter to make fruity drop scones - particularly good with fried apples

· Treat your drop scones like oven scones, and top with clotted cream and homemade jam. ·

There are lots of other recipes on the net of course, including one that has beetroot in the ingredients, but it seems to me that this is one of those things you shouldn't mess around with too much.

One of the most surprising recipes I found was written by the Queen. Yes - the Queen. There is a little story which almost implies that she cooked them herself, which I find hard to believe. Still it's a nice story.

Back in the 1960s President Eisenhower visited the Queen at her Scottish retreat of Balmoral. Whilst there he was served some drop scones and commented how good they were. The Queen promised him the recipe and penned the following (it's in the National Archives).

Somebody made these and this is what they looked like. They are rather plainer than Katie Stewart's, although I did notice that the Queen says,

"I have also tried using golden syrup or treacle instead of only sugar and that can be very good too."

Nearly all of the other recipes I found did not use golden syrup - just sugar.

This last few weeks Aldi have had a special on golden syrup, which made me feel somewhat nostalgic, though I haven't yet bought any. Maybe I will now - and maybe I will make some drop scones.

So here's two or three interesting things about golden syrup. The full history is on the Tate and Lyle website.

It was made for Abram Lyle who started a sugar refinery on the Thames at Plaistow, which is near where I grew up. We went there on a school excursion once. Golden syrup is made from the waste from refining sugar. Two of Lyle's employees - the chemists Charles and John Jospeh Eastick, worked out how to make it. This was back in 1881. In 1883 the packaging that is still used today was designed and the logo of the lion installed on the front.

I have never looked at the logo - and when you do you see that it is really a bit gruesome because it shows a dead, decaying lion, with a swarm of bees and the words 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness.'. It's a quote from the Bible referring to Samson who killed a lion, and when he came back a week or so later saw a swarm of bees had made honey in the carcass. It is thought that the strength refers either to the company itself - Lyle's at the time (Tate and Lyle was a later thing), with the sweetness being evident. Abram Lyle was very religious, so maybe that's why this particular slogan was chosen. But you know we always had golden syrup in our home when I was growing up, and I never, never noticed the lion. How unobservant I am.

Tate and Lyle's sugar refining and golden syrup business was sold to the Americans in 2010. But they have obviously still kept the same packaging.

That logo and and the tin it decorates are the holders of the 2007 Guinness World Record for the world's oldest unchanged brand packaging.

And golden syrup will keep for a very long time of course. Captain Scott took it to the Antarctic with him. When they found it decades later it was still in good condition.

As is the Queen; in spite of Donald Trump. I think her 90th birthday coincided with the 90th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh and somebody made this rather nice picture.

So coincidence again - a book, a recipe and a birthday. And maybe the Queen can cook. Now there's a thought.

Strength and sweetness.