Satisfying sweet tooth in Scotland

Old Apr 19th, 2015, 08:01 PM
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Satisfying sweet tooth in Scotland

Getting ready for my Scotland trip in the summer and I have been thinking of all the good food I will taste there.

But did not find much information on desserts. I know the shortbread cookies and tablet are well known.

Can someone tell me some other Scottish desserts I should try there at different times of the day. Maybe something unique with my tea or some well known dessert after an evening meal.

I always like to eat the local cuisine and do not want to miss anything.

Many years ago I was in Sicily and tired a variety of Italian goodies . But each morning I used to see teenagers going to school eating a strange looking sandwich. I had not heard or read about it and did not have a chance to taste it. Stupidly, I did not even ask any local people or the hotel staff what these kids were eating.

On my return I found out that Sicilian like to eat gelato in a bun for breakfast.
I regret trying it so much.

Thus, don't want to miss anything sweet in Scotland.
Thanks for your help. Have a good night.
ileen is offline  
Old Apr 19th, 2015, 11:54 PM
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Try Cranachan if you have finished driving for the day.
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 02:47 AM
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Yes, to cranachan. There's black bun which is a rich fruit cake enclosed in pastry, but it's rather seasonal, eaten around Hogmanay. Cloutie dumpling is a suet pudding, rather like a less rich version of an English Christmas pudding. I'm very partial to Selkirk bannock. That's a sort of rich fruit bread.
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 03:45 AM
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The Scots aren't particularly famous for crafted puddings.

Their value to the global dental community comes from their world-beating consumption levels of sweets, chocolate and similar confectionery.

No-one can seriously claim familiarity with Scotland's incomparable diet unless they've gorged (moderation in these things is not a Scottish virtue) on the Tunnoch's range. Their chocolate tea cakes (aka elsewhere as "chocolate marshmallows"), Snowballs, caramel wafers, wafer creams and Tubs have a far greater place in most Scottish hearts than whisky, the SNP, sectarian intolerance or even the Sunday Post.

Ross' Edinburgh Rock, individual bars of Ross' Rhubarb Rock, Tangerine Confectionery's Wham Bar, Lee's Macaroon Bar, Lee's Coconut Ice Bar and McCowan's Highland Toffee (specially designed for delicate teeth to eat more of) also contribute massively to the province's lifestyle.

All best consumed, of course, with copious amounts of sugary drinks and cigarettes.
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 05:14 AM
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The Scots are great bakers so a trip to a good old fashioned bakery is a must.

Also don't mis out on fruit pudding at breakfast time. This is sausage shaped and is basically a fruit cake mix. It is served sliced and fried. Put it under a fried egg - delicious. I know this sounds a bit weird and we were resistant to try the combination for quite a time. When we eventually took the plunge we wished we'd tried it earlier.

Also look out for Tablet. This is a sweet and it a bit like fudge but is harder with a more grainy composition. There's information and a recipe here:
http://www.scottish-at-heart.com/scottish-tablet.html
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 05:16 AM
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With your tea, you should have scones.

My father (born in Ireland) grew up in Scotland, and we had many Scots friends when I was small. They made delicious desserts, some of which are also popular in England. Shortbread, of course, is a classic. They also made little pancakes which they served with butter and jam. Trifle was another favorite. Of course, this was many years ago, and they had come from Scotland in the early 20th century, so their taste in sweets could be a little behind the times. However, I know that scones and shortbread are still found everywhere in Scotland, because we were there last summer.

They made wonderful Christmas cakes as well.
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 05:40 AM
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They are getting rarer now, but see if you can find an hotel or cafe where they serve high tea. It's served around 5 pm and has a substantial savoury first course followed by scones, drop scones and sundry cakes, washed down with strong tea.
You want somewhere where they cater for coach parties from Glasgow. ;-)

Southern English style afternoon tea can be found all over the place, that's the one served around 4 with dainty sandwiches. It's nice enough, but you're less likely to get traditional Scottish baking
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 05:53 AM
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My late mother-in-law made girdle/griddle cakes. They're little pancakes served with jam or honey. I suspect that you'd need to follow that coach party to find those.
You might more easily find another of her specialities, empire biscuits. They are like two small round shortbread biscuits sandwiched with jam and topped with icing with a glacé cherry
As somebody said, find an old fashioned bakers shop and browse the shelves.
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 09:37 AM
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Oat cakes (oaties?).

You may think you know about shortbread, but once you get to Tartanworld, you'll see all the various types and flavo(u)rs.

Drambuie is sweet too. ;-)
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 05:25 PM
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Sheila Ritchie, who posts here sometimes, sent me the recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding that was reportedly invented by the Udny Arms Hotel in Aberdeenshire. It is food for the gods and very definitely sweet. It's basically a ground-date cake with brown sugar sauce. You can google the recipe--it's one of my favorite desserts, and I like dessert!
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Old Apr 20th, 2015, 08:52 PM
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Thanks everyone. You all have given me so many unique dessert ideas. I had never even heard of all these names.

So have written them down and will be searching for them during my trip. I will be in Edinburgh and Glasgow. So, I hope I will be able to find all the yummy treats.

Good idea on the afternoon tea also. I have been planning that too. Maybe I will get to taste some great cakes and pastries too.

Have a wonderful week.
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Old Apr 21st, 2015, 06:08 AM
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ileen, please post a dessert review when you return.
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Old Apr 21st, 2015, 06:21 AM
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Fried Mars Bars are a local delicacy I hear.

http://www.roughguides.com/photo/dee...sgow-scotland/

http://time.com/3442423/deep-fried-m...r-stroke-risk/
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Old Apr 21st, 2015, 08:42 AM
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>

Scots will fry just about anything.

Here's some of the shortbread concepts I was on about above. I've had these in the US (hard to find, but if you're in NYC there's a Chelsea Market shop that carries some of them): http://www.shortbreadhouse.com/ret_prod.html
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