Scotch pancakes, or drop scones, are a throwback to when people abstained from cooking with precious ingredients like eggs, oil, and dairy products for the Lenten season, per the BBC. So nothing would go to waste, observers would cook up these "luxuries" to be enjoyed in their last days of opulence before the season of fasting.

Today, drop scones are probably most associated with Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday, September 8, 2022. The queen famously served up drop scones in August of 1959 while entertaining then-U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower, at Scotland's Balmoral Castle.

President Eisenhower enjoyed them so much that the Queen was inspired to send him her recipe a few months later. In the letter, which now appears in the National Archives, Queen Elizabeth offered tips on making a successful batch of drop scones, from the right ingredients to the techniques.