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Scotch Currant Bun

A yeast dough loaf with currants, raisins, citron, spices, and brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove 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 ↓

Scotch Currant Bun

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the dough

  1. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar and shortening until well combined.

  2. Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture along with the dried fruits and spices.

  3. Stir in the yeast, water, and enough flour to form a dough.

Shape, rise and bake

  1. Mold the dough into 3 loaves, similar to regular bread loaves.

  2. Let the loaves rise for about 4 hours.

  3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake the loaves for 1 hour.

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. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + nutmegtop 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. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  5. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the dough.
Yeast
Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps browning in the oven.
Dried currants
Add sweetness, chewiness and fruity flavour throughout the loaves.

The step that matters

Let the loaves rise for about 4 hours. The yeast needs enough time to produce gas and expand the dough. Under-proofed loaves stay dense and may collapse or crack in the oven, while over-proofed loaves can deflate.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, raisin, egg, allspice, clove, nutmeg):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, raisin, egg, allspice, clove, nutmeg. 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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