I have made a couple of black buns, which are in the oven as I type this. I have made at least one of these traditional Scottish cakes every year since the early 70s. They are eaten in Scotland at New Year, and contain lots of whisky! Originally I made one each year for my parents (specifically for my father, who supplied the whisky, as we couldn't afford it then). I seem to have continued making them since.
I use the recipe in the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book I got as a wedding present.
I don't follow it exactly, but hey!
I made the pastry and Pete weighed out the dry ingredients last night, as it takes a while to actually cook.
Heres the method - should enlarge if you click on it.
Dry ingredients for both buns
Wet ingredients - whisky, egg and milk
everything ready to go... cake tins oiled and floured, and wrapped in newspaper
line the tin,
mix all the ingredients,
cake mix into the pastry,
fold the spare pastry in,
egg for glue...
cut out decoration - I always do the same thing - a thistle. Not very imaginative, but I like the way the leaves tesselate with the flowerhead - all comes out in (nearly) one piece!
put on lid,
prick over the top with a fork, decorate...
more egg to glaze, then put in the oven for AGES. I usually cover the top fairly soon with folded newspaper to stop the pastry burning too much.
