Traditional Scottish Black Bun Recipe
A distinguished culinary classic crafted with authentic techniques and finest ingredients, offering rich depth of flavour and elegant presentation.
Ingredients
- • 350g plain flour (2 ¾ cups + 2 tbsp)
- • 90g butter (cold, cubed) (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
- • 90g lard (cold, cubed) (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
- • ½ tsp baking powder
- • Pinch of salt
- • 5 tbsp cold water
- • 1 beaten egg – for brushing
- • 200g plain flour (1 2/3 cups)
- • ½ tsp ground ginger
- • ½ tsp ground cloves
- • 1 tsp cinnamon
- • ¼ tsp black pepper
- • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- • 100g light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
- • 220g raisins (1 cup + 2 tbsp)
- • 220g sultanas (1 cup + 2 tbsp)
- • 220g currants (1 1/3 cups)
- • 100g chopped mixed peel (2/3 cup)
- • 80g flaked almonds (1 heaping cup)
- • 4 tbsp whole milk
- • 1 ½ tbsp brandy
Preparation Steps
First, make the pastry. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a food processor and mix briefly.
Add the butter and lard and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You can also rub the fat into the flour by hand in a mixing bowl if preferred.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric stand mixer and add the cold water. Mix with the dough hook attached until you have a soft ball of dough. Again, this can be done by hand if preferred. Simply mix with a fork until it starts to come together into a dough, then squash everything into a ball with your hands.
Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge whilst you make the filling.
To make the filling, first whisk together the flour, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and bicarbonate of soda in a large mixing bowl.
Add the sugar and whisk again to mix.
Add the raisins, sultanas, currants, mixed peel and flaked almonds. Stir together with a wooden spoon.
Add the brandy and milk and stir until you have a well combined, sticky fruit mixture.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Take a 9x5” loaf tin and place it upside down. Drape the pastry over the tin to check you have rolled it out enough. It should cover the tin with a generous overhang.
Flip the tin up the correct way and carefully line it with the pastry, pushing it closely into the base and sides and leaving a good few inches of overhand around the edge.
Spoon the filling mixture over the pastry, filling the tin all the way to the top. Use a sharp knife to slice off the overhanging pastry and neaten up the edges. Roll the leftover pastry into a ball and set aside.
Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg.
Roll out the leftover pastry into a rectangle and place on top of the filled pastry to cover it completely, squashing it into the egg-washed edges between your fingers to help it stick down.
Take a fork and crimp around the edge before slicing away any excess once again to neaten everything up. Brush all over the top of the pastry with the beaten egg.
Cut a small cross in the centre of the pastry lid and bake for 2 hours. If the top starts to brown too much during cooking, cover loosely with foil.
Leave in the tin for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. This can also be made up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container before slicing and serving.