Best of British – Scottish Raspberry and Pine Nut Bake
Ahhhhh Bonnie Scotland, known for the glorious uncrowded landscape, the changeable weather and the malt whisky production.
Captivating Loch Ness
Photo Credit – FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Where stoic Scottish lads have occasion to don kilts “commando style” and where folks in general are fiercely proud of their Scottish heritage…………including me!
So I’m delighted to take part in this month’s Best of British Challenge which is focusing on Scotland. Hurray!
Photo Credit – FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Scottish food stereotypes aside, and believe me there are many, it should be noted that Scotland is abundant with wonderful produce and a challenge such as Best of British gives us bloggers the opportunity to showcase the natural larder of Scotland.
I did ponder a lot with this challenge. What would I do? Should I choose beef, venison or whisky as the Scottish ingredient? What about salmon?
Maybe something a touch more seasonal…raspberries maybe? A-ha… Scottish raspberries.
Scottish raspberries are in season from the end of June until the start of September. According to EattheSeasons.co.uk the overwhelming majority of raspberries sold in the UK are grown in Scotland owing to the very long Summer days and so I feel it is a fitting ingredient for the challenge.
So it was either going to be a dessert or a cake of some kind. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post I’m not much of a baker so I procrastinated for a while. Then I thought of using Scot’s Porridge Oats, to emphasise the Scottish theme and with some guidance from BBC Good Food, I decided to make Scottish Raspberry and Pine Nut Bake.
Granted, this recipe will not help you shed the pounds and get you on your way to “Slim City” Indeed, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the amount of butter I had to use in the bake. It’s not particularly associated with light Summer dishes either. But come on, we are talking about Scotland here …it’s hardly tropical weather is it? Need I remind you what Billy Connolly once said:
“There are two seasons in Scotland – Winter and July”
So I’m sure you’ll still be able to make it in the Summer months and if not, you could substitute it using Scottish brambles (blackberries) for a more Autumnal bake.
Scottish Brambles – image by Tom Curtis @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The smell of baked raspberries has a wonderful aroma and the texture of the bake is somewhere between a crumble and shortbread with a delicious sweet buttery aftertaste. The bake should last 2/3 days but I feel it tastes at it’s best when it is warm and served with a touch of vanilla ice cream.
Here is a glance of the ingredients you will need for the bake.
Ingredients for Raspberry and Pine Nut Bake
Perfect for dessert or afternoon tea for a rainy Summer's day.
Ingredients
- 200g of plain flour
- 200g of porridge oats
- 240g of butter at room temperature, cut into small cubes
- 175g of brown sugar
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 100g of pine nuts
- 250g of raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Butter a shallow 23cm square tin.
- Tip the flour, oats and butter into a mixing bowl and use your fingers to work the mixture together to make coarse crumbs.
- Mix in the sugar, lemon zest and half the pine nuts using your hands, then press the mixture together well so it forms large sticky clumps.
- Place about two thirds of the oat mixture into the base of the tin, spread it out and press down very lightly being careful not to pack it too firmly.
- Scatter the raspberries on top, sprinkle the rest of the oat mixture over, then the rest of the pine nuts and press everything down lightly.
- Bake for 40 minutes until pale golden on top.
- Cut into 9 squares with a sharp knife while still warm.
- Should you prefer, leave to cool down in the tin before removing.
Notes
You may feel terribly guilty after eating this bake. Why not work it off in the gym later on?
I’m entering this recipe into the Best of British Challenge for July, which is currently being hosted by the very talented Janice over at Farmersgirl Kitchen and at The Face of New World Appliances. Have a peek and see how you can participate too!
What are your favourite Scottish ingredients or dishes ? Do let me know in the comments below!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Pine nuts and raspberries combined with oats. This sound delicious ! A good alternative to the popular flapjacks. Reading your post, I have realised that I know very little about Scottish typical food. So more Scottish recipes are welcome.
Thanks Rita what a lovely comment! I’ll have a think about more Scottish recipes for the future
oh fabulous! I should have guessed you’d know some great scottish recipes!
Oh, I’m sure you have a few up your sleeve too Fiona
Love the sound of the combo of raspberries and pine nuts!
Hi Petra,
Welcome to my blog! Thanks for the comment. It was rather nice and a touch indulgent
These sound delicious but you’ve hit on the one thing my husband won’t eat unless I put them through a sieve, hates fruit with seeds. I wonder if fresh apricots might work?
Apart from Haggis, whiskey and oats I am not very knowlegeable of Scottish cuisine either so do enlighten us further!
Thanks Camilla. I’m not sure about apricots – I have never made them in a cake/pudding before. Have you tried them in a crumble? The bake is quite similar and if they work well in a crumble then they could work with this recipe, although cooking times would vary.
I think in my subconscious mind I had apricot flapjacks, which on further investigation use dried apricots. I’ve only ever eaten them and not made them but they are very nice.
I have had them in a crumble once but they used dried apricots so it wasn’t great. Lets just put the apes back in their cots! he he
Dried apricots in a crumble? I can imagine that would be very dry :0)
These are brilliant. I’ve never thought of baking bars with pinenuts, but it sounds just heavenly! Thank you for sharing!
Yes the combination of pine nuts and raspberry worked well in the bake. Thanks for your comment Monet
Sorry to be late in commenting here but these look wonderful. I have lots of raspberries to use up from my allotment so I shall try this tray bake out. I just love pine nuts too! xx
Laura,
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog. Hope you have fun baking and eating the tray bake
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