All the bakes of my childhood were embroidered with the appearance of an old patterned Dundee Cake Tin that my mother had collected somewhere during her travels.
It had Scottish tartan's printed on it, all around the outside, and on the underside I believe there was actually a photo of a Dundee Cake. To me it represented one thing and one thing only.
Deliciousness! Because I knew that inside the tin would be some cookies that my mother had baked or plain cake, or maybe, if we were really lucky . . . date squares!
It wasn't until I got much older that I began to wonder what exactly a Dundee Cake was!
I knew it was a fruit cake of some sort, which was quite apparent from the tin, and I knew it was Scottish in origin, also apparent from the tin . . . but exactly what kind of fruit cake it was escaped me.
When we were in Scotland several years ago, I picked up a recipe book on Scottish Baking, written by Sue Lawrence, entitled simply . . . Scottish Baking.
Above you will see the photo of the Dundee cake in her book. It is so pretty with its rings of blanched almonds decorating the top.
It is a fruit cake, but not as heavy and rich as a traditional Christmas type of fruit cake. This is more of an "Enjoy with a hot cuppa" kind of a fruit cake!
Light in colour and with a nice "citrus" flavour, it is one of my favourite fruit cakes.
Most cakes will include glace cherries of some sort, but a traditional Dundee Fruit Cake will not. You may see it in some, but it's not tradition that any are included.
What sets it apart from other fruit cakes is that, plus the inclusion of Scottish Malt Whiskey and that lovely ring of blanched almonds on the top.
I does include plenty of dried currants and raisins, and candied citrus peels of course! This recipe also includes the finely grated zest of on orange. YUM!
A traditional fruit cake can take up to three hours baking in a slow oven. This is not unusual. Even the full sized Dundee cake will take about 2 1/4 hours altogether, so it is not a quick bake by any means.
What I loved most about Sue's recipe is that it gives you the option of baking muffin sized cup cakes! And they bake in about half an hour! BONUS!
This quick bake time makes them absolutely flippingly perfect for serving up at your tea break with a nice hot cuppa!
Moist and delicious and stogged to the hilt with lovely dried fruits and beautiful citrus flavours . . .
Hot steaming mugs of tea are most pleasurable when enjoyed with cakes such as these.
Just look at all of those lovely currents and raisins studding that sweet buttery batter . . .
I found myself wondering why I hadn't baked these before, especially where they are so quick out of the oven.
We are people who adore a good fruit cake in this house, but I don't often make one as they are so time intensive. Store bought ones are always ALWAYS disappointing. Dry and lacklustre.
This pleases on every level. These smaller cupcakes are quick to bake. Moist. Delicious. In short perfect! I highly recommend!
Yield: Makes one cake or 10 cupcakes
Scottish Dundee Cake & Dundee Cupcakes
A traditional Scottish Fruitcake that is very much beloved. You can either bake it in a 7 inch cake tin or in 10 large muffin tins.
ingredients:
- 175g unsalted butter (3/4 cup + 1 TBS)
- 175g caster sugar (1 cup less 2 TBS)
- the finely grated zest of one large orange (I use my micro plane grater)
- 3 medium free range eggs
- 175g sifted self raising flour (1 cup plus 5 TBS)
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- pinch of salt
- 150g dried currants (scant cup)
- 150g raisins (scant cup)
- 50g chopped mixed peel (6 1/2 TBS)
- 1 TBS whiskey (preferably malt)
- 16 to 20 whole blanched almonds
instructions:
How to cook Scottish Dundee Cake & Dundee Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter and line a deep 7-inch round cake tin or line 10 large muffin tins with papers. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest thoroughly until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a teaspoon of the measured flour to it with each to help prevent the mixture from curdling. Stir in the mixed spice, salt and flour. Stir in the fruits and mixed peel along with the whiskey to combine well. Spoon into the 7 inch tin, levelling off the top. Alternately divide the mixture between the muffin cups. For muffins, top with the blanched almonds right away and pop into the oven. For the cake, just pop into the oven without the almonds at this point.
- For the cake, bake for 1 1/2 hours, remove from the oven and place the blanched almonds in two concentric circles on top of the cake, then return to the oven and bake for a further 45 minutes. For the muffins, bake for about 35 minutes until done. In either case a toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Remove from the oven for a wire rack and let cool completely before removing from the baking tins.
- Store in an airtight container.
I am very much in love with these little gingham cupcake liners. They were perfect for this and I had actually forgotten that I had them, only discovering them when I was rooting through my baking cupboard. I really hope you will bake these delicious Dundee Cake Muffins, or even the full size cake if that is what you are looking for. If it is even half as good as these smaller ones are, you are in for a real teatime treat!
Up Tomorrow: Apple Mystery Dessert
One thing I really love about life is how every once in a while it kicks you in the pants with a taste of reality. I think this type of thing happens to all of us at one time or another. I am sure you have experienced this exact thing. You are browsing through Pinterest . . . looking at things, pinning things and something catches your eye, so much so that you immediately put it on your list of things you HAVE to make.
(source)
Such it was when I spied this recipe for Bear Paw Cookies on Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons. Aren't they adorable? I thought so too! I had a man and his son coming over to cut down some fruit trees for us and I thought to myself it will bake a batch of these cute cookies to treat them with and they can take the leftovers home to the rest of the children.
We don't get the chocolate chips she required over here in the UK, but I bought two sizes of milk chocolate buttons that I thought would work well. Surely that could not make any difference to the cookie recipe itself as the cookies are baked by the time you put the chocolate chips on. You know that old saying????
The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions. I have heard that saying many times and this is a prime example of that. I don't know what went wrong. My cookies are not puffed. They are flat as pancakes . . . flat, flat, flat . . . they don't even remotely resemble the same cookie.
Just look at how incredibly thin they are . . . which wouldn't be half back if they were at least crisp . . . but they are not. They are chewy . . . maybe a bit crisp around the edges, but that is all.
They are also incredibly sweet. I took a bite of one and almost went into Diabetic Shock, and I really don't think a mother appreciate me feeding these to her babies . . . sigh . . .
I don't know what I did wrong. My soda was fresh. Likewise my eggs, flour, sugar etc.
I normally consider myself to be quite a competent cook and baker . . . but this was an epic fail. I can't fault the original recipe I don't think. Hers look quite wonderful! Although with brown sugar and espresso powder, I do wonder why they are so white. Hmmm . . .
Anyways, sometimes life just hands you those moments where you just have to be able to laugh at yourself. So, no new recipe from me today, just an example of an epic fail, just so you know that sometimes even I mess up at things! But if you are wanting a good cookie to bake, why not bake these ones . . .
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. You can't go wrong with Tried and True. Find the recipe HERE. These always turn out fabulous, and we love them.
Up tomorrow: Its a surprise. I was going to do Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies, but I have used up all of my cookie points today on these failures! Ta da!
As most of you know I am also an author over on Chef's Knives Expert, where I do reviews of the latest knifes, etc. Lately I have also been publishing recipes there. Here are my two latest published recipes!
I am really excited to show you this delicious store cupboard recipe today for a Hearty Tomato & Bean Soup. This makes a lovely, quick supper for those nights when you are rushed off your feet and yet your family is nipping at your heels wanting supper NOW!
I love this time of year when the hedgerows are beginning to fill up with wild blackberries. We grow our own in our garden as well.
This is the perfect time of year to make beautiful jams and baked treats with all of the bounty. Cooking apples are coming into their own as well. Combining the two into a fabulously tasty jam just makes sense.
We grow some really lovely cooking apples here in the UK. They are called Bramley Apples and they are the UK's favourite cooking apple.
Large, flattish, green in appearance, sometimes with a bit of a red flush, its flesh is white, juicy and quite acidic which makes them perfect for cooking with.
They turn into a frothy pulp when cooked, which makes them perfect for pies, cakes, applesauce and jams.
I think nature is so wonderful. Ofttimes you will find that fruits and vegetables which naturally have a great flavour affinity for being combined with each other happen to ripen at the same time.
I only made half the recipe today as there are only two of us in this house and one of us isn't supposed to eat jam. I also have to apologise for my lack of jars.
I have found myself in the unfortunate position of not having any empty jars, so a leftover takeaway tray has had to suffice.
I know you will forgive me for such a poor presentation, especially if you make this jam and then taste how delicious it is!
Oh, I had great plans in my head for how I was going to show this to you, but alas . . . even the best of plans go astray!
Don't let my failing in presentation put you off from making this delicious jam! It truly is fabulous, and such an easy make.
Just equal quantities of cooking apple and blackberries. Make sure you pick and clean the blackberries well. If you are using wild ones, soak them for a bit in salt water to draw any worms and grubs out.
Just fill a large bowl with tepid water and add two heaped TBS of salt. Carefully dump in the berries and then let them sit for about 10 minutes or so. Swish them around for a bit to draw out any stubborn ones.
The grubs will die and float to the top. You may not find any, but it is worth the extra effort to flush them out.
Discard any debris or grubs, drain the berries and then continue with the recipe. You will want to do this about an hour prior to starting your jam.
Jam sugar is a type of sugar which has had pectin added to it to aid in the quick setting up of jams and the preservation of their colour.
I believe in North America it is called Gelling Sugar. Essentially it is sugar with pectin and citric acid added.
Without it you would have to boil your fruit for a much longer time in order for it to set properly. It is doable, but using jam sugar shortens the cook time immensely, and ensures a perfect finish.
As you can see this is lovely and thick, and my husband says it is really delicious!
I had huge plans to bake some fresh scones to showcase it as well, but I spent most of today upgrading my phone so you will have to make do with buttered toast . . .
I actually made the jam yesterday . . . it is lovely and thick today . . .
Perfect. Not too sweet and just a bit tart from the cooking apples . . .
Toast and jam is one of my favourite things, or at least it used to be before I became a Diabetic. Now it is just a delicious dream, and a once in a blue moon tiny taste.
Apple & Blackberry Jam
Yield: Makes 6 (1 cup/240ml) jars
This is the best time of the year for making this delicious jam. with local cooking apples ready for the picking and the hedgerows filling up with wild blackberries. Its a lovely time of year.
ingredients:
- 500g fresh blackberries (a generous pound)
- 500g cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (a generous pound)
- 100ml water (3 1/2 ounces)
- the juice of one small lemon
- 1 KG jam sugar (5 1/4 cups)
instructions:
How to cook Apple & Blackberry Jam
- Put the blackberries, apples, water and lemon juice into a large saucepan or preserving kettle over medium heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, then add the sugar. Bring back to the boil and then boil, stirring for 10 minutes, until the sugar is well dissolved and the jam holds its shape when spooned onto a cold plate. Spoon into clean and sterile jars and seal according to the manufacturers instructions. Store in a cool dark place. Refrigerate once opened.
I've been meaning to ask you. What do you think of me letting you know on Sundays about my planned recipes for the week?
I thought that if I did that then you could make sure you had in the main ingredients you might need to make them. Or would you rather it be a big surprise?
It also helps me in the planning of my week as well. Do tell as I really value your opinion. This page is as much yours as it is mine!
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