OT: Ping Kate - Scottish recipes

If you are thinking of bara brith, that's Welsh for 'speckled bread'. I have a proper yeasted bread recipe for it. It's very fruity and quite dark. The only B cake I can think of is the Black Bun. Let me go look... Oh there's the Selkirk Bannock! THAT's a bread with lots of sultanas in... And I found a good old fashioned Sultana Cake recipe as well, if you'd like that. Just shout and I'll post them for you.

and then there's cloutie dumpling, that's really scotish. Selkirk is so far south it's practically englandshire;-P emma

Here you go. Both recipes in imperial measures. You'll need a set of scales.

Selkirk Bannock:

For one LARGE bannock:

2lbs strong white bread flour pinch of salt 1 heaped teaspoons easy blend yeast 2oz caster sugar 18 fl oz warmed semi-skimmed milk 5oz butter, softened 14oz sultanas 1 egg to glaze

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and blend in the yeast and sugar.

Add enough warm milk to make a soft but not sticky dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Place in a covered bowl in a warm place to rise for an hour and a half until well risen.

Cut the softened butter in 4. Flatten the dough, place a piece of butter in the centre, and fold the dough over it... Knead thoroughly until the butter is well blended. repeat with the remaining butter. Then work the sultanas in the same way, a handful or two at a time.

Shape the bannock into a large round (11" or so across), and flatten slightly. Place on a buttered baking sheet and glaze with some of the egg. Leave uncovered to prove again for about an hour, and pre-heat the oven to 220 C/425 F/ gas mark 7. Glaze with the remaining egg and bake for 15 minutes. reduce the heat to 190 F/375 F/gas 5 and bake for a further 30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes to stop the top singing. Cool on a wire rack and cut in slices to serve spread with butter.

Old Fashioned sultana cake:

For a 7" cake:

6 oz butter, softened 6 oz golden caster sugar 3 medium eggs 8 oz plain flour 8 oz sultanas 1 level tablespoon golden granulated sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 170 C/325 F/gas 3 Line your cake tin

Beat together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, with a third of the flour added after each egg. Stir in the sultanas to make a stiff dough. Turn into the cake tin and smooth over the top.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until a cocktail stick jabbed through the middle comes out clean. Switch off the oven and sprinkle the granulated sugar over the top of the cake. Pop it back in the oven for 10 minutes...

Take out and allow to cool in the tin.

This is very like what was once called 'plain cake' and served to the children in their nurseries and below stairs in large Victorian homes.

Oh, no... Crossing the border from foreign parts, Jedborough and Selkirk are just a wee whiff of home!

Cloutie dumpling just isn't the same without the lacy pattern from yer granny's auld woolly vest.

ahh but when one's up here in the wet bits they're on the way to elsewhere

really? for me it would be just wrong with out the old tea towel effect;-P emma

ahh but when one's up here in the wet bits they're on the way to elsewhere

really? for me it would be just wrong with out the old tea towel effect;-P emma