#black bun

Recipe 114 - Black Bun

“Black Bun” is the ninth recipe  I’ve made based on the food offered at the Deli Shuss in The Silent Spy. The other eight can be found here,here,here,here, here,here,hereandhere. For those keeping score, there are 14 food items you can buy at Deli Shuss so only 5 more to go! (Although I probably won’t be able to make some of the remaining things).

“Black Bun” is a traditional, Scottish, New Year’s fruit cake. I was very excited when I read that because I originally wanted to do the recipe for Christmas but ran out of time (couldn’t find currants). Compared to the other fruit cake I made (Dundee cake) it is a lot more dense with dried fruit, in fact it’s more fruit than cake. I saw someone compare it online to a giant fig newton and I think that’s pretty accurate. Texture wise it’s pretty gritty and dense and the dough is flaky like a pie crust. Definitely not a combo of tastes that’s familiar to my American tongue. Since it’s very dry, I recommend a generous lathering of butter and some salt for some zing. (I’ve been putting salt on all my sweets lately).

I gotta share the black bun lore that was attached to my source’s recipe because it’s both interesting and seasonally appropriate:

“‘First footing’ is an old Hogmanay custom: shortly after midnight, neighbours would visit one another to offer their best wishes for the New Year and take gifts such as black bun (a fruit cake wrapped in pastry) to symbolise that the household would not go hungry that year.”

Happy New Year clue crew!