Bannock, Black Bun and Sun Cakes

[Katerina81]

Hi
I have found some information about Scottish traditions to celebrate Christams but i couldn't find the recipes for Bannock, Black Bun or Sun Cake, so if you could help me somehow... And one more thing i just couldn't understand about "Bees leave hives Xmas Morn" thing, my dear!what do they leave there hives for ?thanx

[Polwarth]

If you do a search for 'black bun recipe' I'm sure there's at least one on this site!

The bee-keeper thing would presumably only be able to be answered by a bee-keeper. Unfortunately, i'm not one

I've never heard about a 'sun' cake - but maybe someone else here has?

The bannock thing is a complicated one too... There is Selkirk bannock - which is a sweet, fruited round tea-cake sort of thing. Then there are bannocks which are a type of savoury scone/bread.

Also, Black bun is not really a Christmas tradition - more a Hogmanay one - as I would assume the 'sun' cake would be (if only I knew about it!)

[Celyn]

Black bun is a very rich fruit cake, and is for Hogmany (New Year). I'm no cook, so you msut really jsut Google for recipes and pick your favourite one.

Bees - I'm not sure if I have ever heard of that one. but here it is mentioned:

Bees leave hives Xmas Morn. There is an old belief that early on Christmas Morning all bees will leave their hives, swarm, and then return. Many old Scots tell tales of having witnessed this happening, though no-one can explain why. One explanation is that bees get curious about their surroundings, and if there is unexpected activity they will want to check it out to see if there is any danger. As people were often up and about on Christmas night observing various traditions, or just returning from the night services, the bees would sense the disturbance and come out to see what was going on.

from: http://www.christmasarchives.com/scotland.html


The "sun cake" sound good - nice name - but I have never heard of it, I'm afraid.

[Babz]

Sun cake

Turn on the oven around 180 degrees.
Whisk 2 eggs with 200 gr of sugar and one teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Mix it until it gets really fluffy and nice.
Then melt 150g. of butter in a small pot and slowly pour the butter into the egg mix, while whisking.
Stirr 250 gr of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder into the bowl.
I also like to add some finely chopped hazelnuts (really finely chopped, until it looks like hazelnut flour).
Pour the cake into a buttered round form cake tin,(the typethat has a latch on the side to open and release the cake)

Put the cake in the hot oven and bake for around 25 minutes.
As soon as the cake is out pour the juice of 3 lemons over it.

Let the cake cool down.
When cooled cover it with frosting, made of lemon juice and fine white powder sugar and a bit of
yellow food colour.
Sprinkle the cake, with lemon peel.

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Selkirk Bannock

Ingredients:
1 lb flour
8 oz sultanas (seedless white raisins)
4 oz sugar
2 oz butter and 2 oz lard
2 oz chopped mixed peel
Quarter pint milk
Quarter ounce dried yeast
A tablespoon of milk and sugar for the glaze

Method:
Sieve the flour and sugar into a bowl, add the yeast and mix well. Melt the butter and lard in a
saucepan on a low heat.
Remove as soon as it is melted. Warm the milk in another saucepan and then pour it into the melted fats.

Create a hole in the middle of the flour, sugar and yeast and mix well into a smooth dough.
Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel (or plastic clingfilm) and leave in a warm location for 45 minutes.
The dough will rise, doubling in size.

Knead the dough (with flour on your hands to stop it sticking) for five minutes.
Add the sultanas and mixed peel and knead well again for another five minutes.
Place the dough in a loaf tin and cover with a plastic pollythene bag (tied at the top) and leave in a
warm place for 20 minutes to allow it to rise again.

Remove the tin from the bag and bake in a preheated oven at 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4 for an hour.
Mix the tablespoon of milk and sugar.
Remove the cake tin from the oven and place on a heat-resistant surface.
Brush the top with the milk and sugar, using a pastry brush.
Return the cake tin to the oven (using oven gloves - it's still hot) and bake for another twenty minutes.
Test with a skewer - if it is wet, continue baking for another ten minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing. Store in an airtight container.


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Black Bun


Cooking Time: Over 60 mins


Ingredients

plain bread dough made with 1 lb (450 g) strong plain flour
6 oz (175 g) butter, softened
1 1/2 oz (40 g) flaked almonds
8 oz (225 g) raisins
8 oz (225 g) sultanas
3 oz (75 g) candied peel, chopped
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 nutmeg, grated
Method

Knead the dough for the first time and then knead in the butter. Put the dough into a bowl, cover it
and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Knead the dough again, cut off about one third and reserve it.
Mix the almonds, dried fruits, peel and spices together. Knead them into the two thirds of the dough,
a little at a time.
You will find that the dough gradually darkens in colour.
Form the fruit dough into a ball.
Roll the one third of the dough into a flat sheet.
Put the ball of fruit dough into the centre and bring the sides of the plain dough to the centre.
Pinch them together to seal them.
Turn the loaf over so it has a smooth, unbroken top.
Place the loaf on a floured baking sheet and place an 8 inch (20 cm) ring metal ring over it.
Gently press the dough down so that it almost touches the sides of the ring.
Prick the loaf all over with a fork, going right through the outer layer. Leaf the loaf in a warm
place for 20 minutes to prove.

Bake the loaf for 1 hour, removing the metal ring after the first 30 minutes.
The outside will be golden brown and the loaf will sound hollow when it is tapped.
Cool it on a wire rack.

[Katerina81]

So thank you very much i hope it will help me somehow.
Celyn, actually, I have found this very Quote in the Internet and this is why i had so many questions about it....why do they do when they see what is going on .....lol but anyway thanx :-) Spacial thanx to Babz

[HollyElise]

oh MUST you do that, Babz! Here i am, just up in the morning and haven't had my breakfast and now i'm drooling all over my keyboard!

So... cooks.... what are you having for your Christmas supper?

Here in the states most popular i think is the Christmas ham, followed closely by households who prefer turkey... not having had enough turkey at Thanksgiving. In my house we've had all sorts of things, turkey, roast beef, cornish hens, duck, goose, one year we had salmon on the side, and one year we even had a completely vegetarian Christmas and i made Spanekopeta (really a Greek New Years dish.... spinach and feta in light filo pastry) and homemade raviolis stuffed with walnuts and herbs and covered in a pumpkin sauce.... that was very good!

[Polwarth]

traditionally, in the UK (as a whole, not just Scotland) we have one or all of the following

turkey or goose or chicken
Roast potatoes
Roast parsnips
sausages and bacon rolls

Bread sauce
stuffing (I prefer sage and onion)
Cranberry sauce (or redcurrant sauce with goose)
Good gravy

Carrots
peas
brussel sprouts