Skip to main content
Main

A Rich Scotch Bun

A yeast dough bun filled with raisins, currants, orange peel, citron, almonds, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

A Rich Scotch Bun

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. Mix the flour with the chopped raisins, currants, orange peel, citron, and almonds in a large bowl.

  2. Combine the spices (cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger) in a separate bowl.

  3. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the fruit and mix well.

  4. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the softened butter, then pour warm water over the butter to soften it further.

  5. Work the flour and butter together until smooth.

  6. Add the yeast and mix until the dough is light and smooth.

  7. Reserve one-third of the dough for the top.

Shape the bun

  1. Roll out the remaining dough on a floured surface and place the fruit mixture in the center.

  2. Pour a little yeast over the fruit and dough, then mix everything together well.

  3. Shape the dough into a round bun.

  4. Roll out the reserved dough into a circular sheet and cover the bun with it.

  5. Pinch the edges to seal and poke holes in the top with a fork.

  6. Place the bun on floured parchment paper, cut around the sides, and wrap it with double paper to prevent it from spreading too thin.

Bake

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Forms the dough's structure that holds the fruit and butter together.
Butter
Adds richness and tenderness, giving the dough a short, crumbly texture.
Yeast
Leavens the dough so it becomes light and airy as it rises.
Raisins
Add sweetness and moisture to the filling.
Currants
Add sweetness and moisture to the filling.
Blanched almonds
Add crunch and nutty richness to the fruit filling.

The step that matters

Wrapping the bun in double paper. Wrapping the bun in double paper keeps its shape during baking, so the dough does not spread too thin and the fruit stays evenly contained.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, raisin, orange, almond, clove, nutmeg, allspice):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, raisin, orange, almond, clove, nutmeg, allspice. 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.

You might also like

Almond SoupAlmond Soup60 recipesAlmond SaladAlmond Salad6 recipesTomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipes