Beyond the Scone

I don’t know what I was thinking. I promised my 13-year-old daughter that a big part of our trip to Scotland would be visiting tearooms and sampling the baked goods. Then, I said, we’d get the recipes for our favorite scones or oatcakes or whatever and we’d come home and bake them ourselves.

They speak English over there; we speak English. We’d get the recipes on the spot, or get an e-mail address for later. It’d be educational, I thought.

It was far more educational than I ever planned it to be.

The driving through Scotland and stopping for tea part worked out well. The Scots pride themselves on being the best home bakers in Europe, they say, and many tearooms and coffeehouses serve home-baked desserts, tea cakes and breakfast pastries. In some cases, they buy from local home-based cooks; in others, staff bakers bring their recipes from home and up the quantities a bit.

Irene and I were careful to ask which items were traditionally English and which traditionally Scottish. We discovered that we loved the hearty oatmeal/ginger/molasses/dried fruit flavors of Celtic baking.

Among our favorites were the many oatmeal-based goodies Americans would loosely categorize as cookies: “oaties,” “biscuits” and “tray bakes” (layers of oats or shortbread topped with fruit mixtures or toffee), as well as “parkins” (cake-like bar cookies), “perkins” (drop cookies) and “flapjacks” (flourless oatmeal bars). Shortbread in many variations was offered everywhere, and there were scones and more scones, sweet and savory.

Trying to duplicate these delectables at home turned out to be tricky, at first. I brought home a few cookbooks as well as recipes graciously given from tearooms. But I hadn’t brought home any raw ingredients, so when I actually read the recipes and saw that they called for unfamiliar (to me) ingredients like golden syrup, sultanas (raisins), porridge oats (rolled oats), caster sugar (granulated sugar), muscovado sugar and demerara sugar (types of brown sugars), I had to call some British expatriate neighbors for translations.

I did know the Scots used all sorts of oatmeals, so I thought I’d just use trial and error to figure out which was which. I went to Trader Joe’s and got some fancy imported kinds to supplement a giant box of Quaker rolled.

In the back of my mind I had also known that U.K. measurements were not the same as ours, but how big a problem could that be? I blithely tackled one batch of scones and another of some simple, three-ingredient flapjacks.

Disaster. The scones were tough and salty. The flapjacks were runny and soggy. The next batch were like rocks. The next were smooshy and wouldn’t set, and the fancy oatmeal still tasted uncooked.

Irene lost interest after a few days of infrequently edible results. But my other daughter, Patricia, a freshman at UCLA, bought me a food scale and tried to help my math-impaired brain grasp the techniques for estimating and converting liquid and dry grams and ounces to cups.

I began to send plaintive e-mails to the bakers I’d talked to on my trip, and they kindly responded. I found a handy conversion table that enabled me to estimate that there are about 4 ounces of flour, 6 ounces of raisins and 8 ounces of butter to a cup.

Some of my Scottish baking recipes have yet to yield their secrets, but a half-dozen have turned out to be so much fun to make and serve that they’ve entered the family repertoire.

I am now a confident scone maker, thanks to an easy and very forgiving recipe from John Steven McLaren at Trossochs Woolen Mill in Kilmahog by Callander, Perthshire.

Two other very traditional Scottish baked goods are now staples in our home. Bannock (“hill” or “dome” in Scottish) is a yeasted fruit bread that originated 100 years ago at a bakery in Edinburgh. Many different kinds of breads named “bannock” can now be found through Britain and Canada, but the loaf I made from a recipe from Clive Ramsay, a fine food retailer in the town of Bridge on Allan, sounds quite like descriptions of the original.

Oatcakes--simple crackerlike rounds of oats, fat and flavorings--were once daily fare in Scotland. Some folks never gave up eating them, but they fell from favor as bland commercial versions replaced fresh homemade batches. Oatcakes turned out to be quite easy to make, and though kids rarely love them, adults like the not-so-sweet taste and crunchy texture, and feel almost virtuous eating them.

Two other desserts I adopted from Scotland, however, cut straight to the sinful chase. A truly unusual and tasty oatmeal meringue cake developed by cookery school director Mo Scott is based on egg whites and oatmeal, but to counteract any low-fat effects, it’s spread with whipped cream before serving.

Another indulgent treat is Millionaire’s Shortbread, versions of which are found everywhere in Scotland. The theory behind this cookie is something along the lines of if you’re going to do it, you might as well overdo it. It’s an amusing case of overkill, with the already too-rich butter-and-sugar shortbread base topped with caramel, another Scots’ flavor favorite.

If a country’s cuisine mirrors its soul, then Scotland’s baked goods hint at some underpublicized aspects of the national psyche. Scones and oatcakes meet our expectations of thrift and practicality--but Millionaire’s Shortbread tells us that there’s another side to the story.

Trossachs Mill Scones

Active Work Time: 10 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 35 minutes

I was suspicious at first about McLaren’s use of self-rising flour in this recipe, as I had previously found it to make dishes too salty. These scones, though, were perfect--not too biscuity, not too sweet. Add raisins or the like to suit your taste.

3 cups self-rising flour, plus more for kneading

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

3/4 cup nonfat milk

1 egg, beaten

* Combine flour and sugar in bowl and stir together with fork. Cut margarine into bowl in about 4 or 5 pieces. Rub margarine into flour and sugar using your fingers until texture is consistent.

* Stir in milk until dough forms. Dough should be somewhat similar to pie crust, able to be formed with hands, but still quite dry. Cover bowl with damp paper towel and rest 10 minutes.

* Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead gently a few times, then form individual rounds, flattened between palms. Place each on greased baking sheet.

* Brush tops with egg. Bake at 425 degrees until golden, 10 to 15 minutes.

10 to 12 scones. Each of 12 scones: 255 calories; 500 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.85 gram fiber.

Bannock

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 4 hours

Mixed peel is a wonderful baking staple available in Britain that is basically dried, slightly candied citrus peel. I don’t find the equivalent here, but I got nice results using some of Trader Joe’s special mixed dried fruit combinations (like tropical fruit combination). This bread is wonderfully full of fruit. The recipe is from Clive Ramsay Ltd.

4 to 5 cups unbleached flour, plus more for kneading

Salt

1 (1/4-ounce) packet dry yeast

1 teaspoon water

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 1/2 cups milk

Oil, for greasing

3 cups raisins

1 cup mixed peel (substitute mixed dried fruit)

1 egg, beaten

* Mix flour and dash salt in bowl. In another small bowl, combine yeast with water and 1 teaspoon sugar and mix to a paste, then stir in remaining sugar.

* Melt butter with milk in small saucepan, then cool until lukewarm. Combine with yeast mixture. Pour liquid ingredients into flour mixture and stir to form soft dough.

* Turn dough out onto floured board and knead at least 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Put kneaded dough into lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, 2 hours.

* Turn dough onto board again, press flat and sprinkle raisins and peel over. Form into ball and knead again to mix raisins and peel through. Shape into round dome about 10 inches in diameter--a bannock. Raisins will break up with kneading and create pretty, brown-flecked dough.

* Brush top and sides with beaten egg, then leave in warm place until well-risen, about 1 hour.

* Bake at 425 degrees 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake 20 minutes more. Remove from oven. Test for doneness by tapping base of loaf. It should sound hollow. Cool before slicing.

12 servings. Each serving: 489 calories; 170 mg sodium; 56 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 87 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 3.43 grams fiber.

Oatcakes

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 35 minutes

In Scotland, oatcakes come in all shapes, sizes and textures. Clive Ramsay stocks a half-dozen locally made varieties. My husband and I now enjoy them at breakfast.

2 1/2 cups oatmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup mixed shortening and margarine

3/4 cup boiling water

* Mix oatmeal, salt, soda and flour in bowl.

* Melt shortening and margarine and stir into dry ingredients. Mix with spatula, adding boiling water to make soft dough. Dough will be quite wet.

* Turn onto board lined with wax paper and sprinkled with oatmeal. Roll out thinly and cut into triangles or circles.

* Bake on ungreased baking sheets above center of 425-degree oven until golden, about 15 minutes.

24 (2-inch) oatcakes. Each oatcake: 64 calories; 74 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.20 gram fiber.

Raspberry Oatmeal Meringue Cake

Active Work Time: 45 minutes Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours

Mo Scott directs a cookery school at her Earlshill Farm in Renfrewshire. This celebration cake combines favorite Scottish ingredients: fruits, nuts, oatmeal and meringue.

1 cup oatmeal

8 egg whites

Salt

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped mixed dried fruit and nuts (almonds and/or hazelnuts)

Powdered sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

Powdered sugar for garnish

* Toast oatmeal by spreading in thin layer on baking sheet and baking at 350 degrees about 10 minutes. Set aside.

* Beat egg whites and dash salt with electric mixer until very stiff and dry, then gradually beat in sugar, a little at a time. Add cornstarch and vinegar, continuing to beat.

* Process oatmeal, dried fruit and nuts together in food processor to medium-fine grind. Fold into egg-white mixture.

* Spoon mixture into (9-inch) springform pan that has been lined with lightly greased wax paper. Spread smooth and bake at 350 degrees in lower part of oven until light brown and crisp on the top, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

* Gently remove cake from pan and place on serving dish. Dust cake with powdered sugar. Whip cream; fold raspberries into whipped cream.

* To serve, offer dollop of raspberries and cream with each slice.

12 servings. Each serving: 361 calories; 33 mg sodium; 27 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 73 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.40 gram fiber.

Millionaire’s Shortbread

Active Work Time: 1 hour * Total Preparation Time: 3 hours

We joined travelers and locals wolfing down scones, fruit slices and various shortbreads on a rainy afternoon at the Coach House, a cafe in the village of Luss, on the shore of Loch Lomand. Gary and Rowena Groves are the proprietors, and Rowena is the highly regarded baker. Her Millionaire’s Shortbread adds chocolate to the classic shortbread and caramel combination. Look for golden syrup alongside other syrups at well-stocked supermarkets and gourmet stores.

BASE

2 cups (4 sticks) butter

1 cup powdered sugar

4 cups flour

2 cups cornmeal

* Cream butter gently in electric mixer using dough hook until light, 3 to 4 minutes. Add powdered sugar and continue beating a few more minutes. Slowly add flour and cornmeal and continue to mix with dough hook until dry ingredients are incorporated, 4 to 5 minutes. Dough will be dry.

* Press dough into 13x9-inch baking pan, and pierce repeatedly across bottom with fork to prevent it from rising. (If making plain shortbread, mark dividing lines between cookies same way).

* Bake at 275 degrees 1 hour. Turn oven off and open door to allow some heat to escape. Leave shortbread in oven to continue to dry out another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool but do not remove from pan.

TOPPING

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon golden syrup

1 cup chocolate chips (white or dark chocolate)

* Heat milk, margarine, sugar and syrup in saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture begins to come away from sides of pan, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour over cooked shortbread (still in its pan) and cool.

* Melt chocolate chips in double boiler set over, but not touching, simmering water, or in microwave, and spread in layer over set caramel. Cool. Cut into fingers or squares.

3 dozen cookies. Each cookie: 254 calories; 143 mg sodium; 29 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.87 gram fiber.