Skip to main content
Dessert

Scotch Parkins

A sweet biscuit made with wholemeal flour, oatmeal, butter, golden syrup, sugar, mixed spice, and bicarbonate of soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Scotch Parkins

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. Mix the mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda, and flours together.

  2. Cream the butter, golden syrup, and sugar until smooth.

  3. Combine all ingredients to form a firm dough.

  4. Break the dough into about 12 pieces.

Shape and bake

  1. Shape each piece into a round.

  2. Flatten the tops of the rounds slightly.

  3. Wash the tops with a little milk.

  4. Place half an almond in the center of each round.

  5. Arrange the rounds on a well-greased baking sheet with 3 inches between each piece.

  6. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 25 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Flour + syruptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,540 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Wholemeal flour
Provides the main structure and a nutty, wholesome texture to the dough.
Fine oatmeal
Adds body and a slightly coarse, crumbly texture to the biscuits.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderises the dough and contributes richness and flavour.
Golden syrup
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep golden colour as the biscuits bake.
Bicarbonate of soda
Reacts with the syrup's acidity to lighten the dough and help it rise.

The step that matters

Combine all ingredients to form a firm dough. Bicarbonate of soda needs to be evenly distributed and worked in so it reacts uniformly; uneven mixing gives patchy rising and texture. A dough that is too wet spreads on the baking sheet instead of holding its shape.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Oranges in SyrupOranges in Syrup9 recipesSyrup SauceSyrup Sauce6 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipes