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Recipe

Scottish Black bun Recipe

Medium – 3 hrs
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With dried fruit soaked in Ballantine’s GLENBURGIE 15 YEAR OLD, this rich whisky fruit cake recipe, is tasty all year round, but it is especially perfect for Hogmanay.

This whisky fruit cake recipe was made in partnership with Scottish chef, Gregg Boyd, otherwise known as Auld Hag.

Scottish Black Bun Ingredients

  • 375ml of Glenburgie 15 Year Old
  • 500g flame raisins
  • 200g currants
  • 100g diced mixed peel
  • 1tsp orange oil
  • 200g plain flour
  • 150g dark brown sugar
  • 4tsp mixed spice
  • 2tsp ginger
  • 1tsp nutmeg
  • 2tsp green / black pepper
  • 1tsp bicarbonate
  • 4tbsp milk
  • 400g plain flour
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 100g lard
  • 1tsp baking powder

How to make a Scottish Black Bun

  • Start this recipe a few days in advance by soaking the raisins, currants and mixed peel in the orange oil and whisky. Give everything a good mix and either put in a jar or in a bowl with a cartouche. Give it a mix each day and let it develop for anywhere from 1-3 days or longer if you have the time.
  • Once you’re ready to bake, make your pastry. Rub the lard and butter into the flour and baking powder until it resembles breadcrumbs. Bring together with cold water trying to avoid overworking the pastry dough. Chill in the fridge for an hour whilst you make the filling.
  • For the filling, combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. I whisk the dry ingredients first before adding the egg and the fruit; which I drain, reserving the liquor. You can add the milk here and some of the leftover, fruit-infused whisky liquor if you want it to be a bit more boozy. Alternatively, keep the fruity Glenburgie liquor and drink it.
  • Then divide your pastry into two thirds and a third. Roll the larger piece into a rectangle large enough to fit into a 900g loaf tin which has been greased and floured. Drape in, press down into the sides and leave the pastry hanging over the sides. Fill the tin, pressing down as firmly as possible before brushing the edge with egg, putting the lid on, crimping down hard and then trimming any extra.
  • Egg wash the top, cut a wee cross in the middle for steam and bake low and slow at around 160 for 2-2.5 hours. A skewer placed in the steam gap should come out clean. This long bake also helps to cook off the alcohol. If the cake is still too strong, let it air out as it’ll continue to improve for up to 3 weeks.
  • Once cooled, slice up and serve up with either double cream, clotted cream or ice cream with a bit of extra nutmeg alongside a dram of Glenburgie.

About Auld Hag

Auld Hag is a dream team of Gregg and his partner Maddi set up during the last wave of lockdowns. Gregg’s Scottish heritage meant that a lot of their deliveries centred on hot haggis, neeps & tatties that they cooked in their flat to share with friends and Instagram followers. Once lockdown was uplifted, they took to the streets of Westgate St Market to sell their delicious treats. Later came collaborations with the likes of Gordos Pizza, Hot 4 U, the Bagel Guys, the Cheese Bar, Dalston Wine Club, Naked Soup, Kold Sauce, Two Hot Asians and Bangers and many more. The rest is history.

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