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Scotch Bun

A sweet, currant-filled bun baked in a pastry crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Scotch Bun

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

  1. Mix the sugar, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, milk, currants, sultanas, raisins, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg, candied peel, and almonds until just moist.

  2. Add 2 oz. butter and 2 eggs to the mixture.

  3. Reduce the baking soda and cream of tartar accordingly.

Assemble and bake

  1. Line a greased cake tin with plain pastry, leaving a round piece for the top.

  2. Spread the mixture evenly on the pastry, cover with the lid, and pinch the edges together.

  3. Prick the top with a fork, brush with beaten egg, and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 3 hours.

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. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  5. Raisin + gingertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs (in the method)
Bind the mixture and add richness and structure as the bun bakes.
Baking soda
Reacts with the cream of tartar to produce gas that lightens the batter.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the mix and works with baking soda to help the bun rise.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps brown the crust during the long bake.
Currants
Provide moisture and concentrated sweetness throughout the bun.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for tenderness and a richer crumb.

The step that matters

Reduce the baking soda and cream of tartar accordingly. Baking soda and cream of tartar must be balanced so the acid neutralises the alkali. Too much of either can leave a soapy or bitter taste or an uneven rise.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, cream, milk, raisin, pepper, ginger):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, cream, milk, raisin, pepper, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

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