Black Bun (Recipe)
A cake in a pie - what's not to like?
Robert Louis Stevenson may have been dismissive about this traditional Scottish bake but in many ways it’s a lot less hassle than coating a cake with marzipan and icing. The recipe below has been adapted from F. Marion McNeill’s The Scots Kitchen.
Ingredients for the pastry
225g/8oz plain flour
110g/4oz cold unsalted butter, cubed
Cold water to bind
Ingredients for the cake
225g/8oz currants
225g/8oz raisins
50g/2oz almonds, roughly chopped
50g/2oz chopped mixed peel
110g/4oz plain flour
25g/1oz brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground allspice
⅛ tsp ground black pepper
⅛ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp baking powder
1 medium egg
4 tablespoons buttermilk or natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons brandy, whisky or rum (or orange juice for an alcohol free version)
1 x 900g/2lb loaf tin, greased and lined
Method
Begin by making the pastry. Sift the flour into a roomy bowl. Add the cubed butter then rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add enough cold water to bind (start with a couple of tablespoons). Bring the mixture together to form a ball of dough. Cover with film then refrigerate for an hour or so.
Roll three quarters of the pastry into a rectangle roughly 30 x 24 cm (the loaf tin I use measures 20 x 10 x 7cm at the base). You need it to be big enough to line your loaf tin with a little overhanging the top. You may need to do a bit of cutting and pasting to ensure it snugly fits into the corners. Make sure there are no holes or tears though.
Roll the remaining pastry into a smaller rectangle roughly 24 x 16 cm. This will be the lid.
To make the filling combine the dried fruits, nuts, mixed peel, flour, sugar, spices and baking powder in a bowl ensuring that the fruit is coated in flour.
Beat the egg, buttermilk (or yoghurt) and alcohol (or juice) together. Add this to the dry ingredients then mix well. The liquid will moisten the mixture rather than make it wet but ensure there are no dry bits.
Spoon the bun mixture into the pastry lined loaf tin, smoothing down the top. Brush the edges of the top of the pastry with water then place the lid on top, gently pressing down so that the lid meets the cake and the edges are sealed. Trim off any excess pastry then use a blunt knife to make a couple of holes in the top of the pastry for the steam to escape.
Bake in an oven pre-heated to 180℃ for 2 hours. If the pastry looks like it is getting too brown during this time, cover the top lightly with a piece of baking parchment or foil. A skewer inserted into the cake through one of the steam holes should come out clean.
Allow to cool completely in the tin before unmoulding.