Heather’s Heavenly Ginger Cookies:

¾ cup shortening (Crisco vegetable butter flavoured recommended)
1-cup brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 large egg
Beat together until light and fluffy

Oats and Buttermilk Snack Cake:

Soak steel-cut oats in buttermilk to soften them but still preserve a nice crunch. This cake makes a great afternoon snack or, with a maple syrup glaze, dessert.

Ingredients

1 cups buttermilk
½ cup steel-cut oats
½ cup oat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional)

Preparation

Combine buttermilk and oats; cover and refrigerate 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flours into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. 

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat until well blended. Stir in oat mixture; beat until well blended. Add flour mixture, beating just until moist. 

Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired. 

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 square)

Deep-Fried Mars Bars:

The Deep-Fried Mars Bar was invented in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland by the chippie, or chipper as they say in Grampian, Carron Fish and Chip Shop at Allardice Street in 1995.

An easy deep-fried mars bar recipe that you can try at home, though it really is not good for your health, is to beat a raw egg. Dip the mars bar chocolate into the egg and ensure all of it gets covered in egg. Then put this into a batter mix (used to fry fish) and deep fry until the batter turns golden. In parts of Scotland you can also get deep-fried ice cream or creme eggs.

Rumbledethumps

Rumbledethumps is a very easy and flexible recipe, the Scottish version of "bubble and squeak". As a wee lad, I remember my Da making this many times. I loved it just because of the name. It is usually served as part of a meal with meat, but can be eaten on its own as an inexpensive supper.

Variations: add crispy chunks of bacon or bacon bits, spring onions, leeks or sprinkle the top with paprika or ground nutmeg.

Ingredients:
450g/16oz potatoes, diced for mashing
350g/12oz cabbage, finely shredded
1 large onion, sliced finely
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp old white cheddar cheeze, grated

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F
Roughly dice potatoes and boil in slightly salted water in a medium sized pan. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and place back in the pan
Roughly mash the potatoes
Shred the cabbage and slice the onion, using a food processor or by hand
Place the butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat and melt.
Add cabbage and onion to the frying pan and stir until evenly coated with butter
Leave over the heat for a few minutes until the cabbage and onion wilts. Make sure you do not brown the vegetables
Season to taste with salt and peper
Add roughly half the cheese and all the potatoes. Stir evenly until the cheese has melted over a simmering heat
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Place in a Pyrex serving dish and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese
Place in the hot oven and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden (about 10 mins)
Serve immediately

Mom's Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:
½ cup butter or shortening
3 cups quick rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 tbsp corn syrup

Instructions:
Put the butter in 8x8 cake pan and put in the oven at 350 to melt

Mix together oats, brown sugar and salt in a big bowl. Make a little ‘well’ in the middle and pour in the corn syrup.

When the butter is melted, swish it around the pan to grease it, and then pour it onto the corn syrup. Mix all together with 2 forks and then maybe fingers until mixed well.

Press mixture back into the cake pan evenly. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until center starts to bubble and the edges are golden brown. The longer you cook it the harder it gets.

Let cool for about 5 minutes and then cut into bars or squares and leave it in the pan to finish cooling. If you don’t cut it after 5 minutes, you won’t be able to later.

When cool, flex pan to pop it/them out, if you are lucky. Enjoy

Cranachan

A delicious Scottish dessert! What an elegant, light ending to a fine meal! (Amounts are for one serving, multiply by number to be served.)

1 tbsp large flake rolled oats
½ c fresh or frozen raspberries
1 tsp fine sugar (icing sugar)
1 tbsp Drambuie (Scotch Whisky liqueur)
1 ½ tbsp whipping cream
½ tsp liquid honey 
1 slice butter-based shortbread (optional)

Place rolled oats in a small pan; stir over medium heat until evenly tanned (should smell toasty). Do not allow them to scorch, or discard and start over. 

Gently toss raspberries with sugar to coat; add Drambuie and stir; set aside, at room temperature. Do this before the meal at which the dessert will be served so sugar will dissolve and liqueur flavour will combine with raspberries for best effect.

Whip cream until foamy, add honey in a slow drizzle and combine completely. Whip until frothy. Optional: make whipped cream. Do this before meal, refrigerate.

Before serving, portion raspberry mixture into small serving bowls (cocktail glasses are nice, or perhaps china tea cups with saucers); stir rolled oats into whipped cream; pour cream mixture over raspberries. Serve a slice of shortbread on a plate beside the bowl of fruit. Enjoy.

Note 1: this recipe was formulated from the description on a website of a dessert served at a hotel in Inverness-shire, Scotland. 
Note 2: all amounts are approximate and may be increased or decreased to taste.

Griddle Scones

Ingredients:
8 oz Flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 oz butter
1 teaspoon golden syrup (or maple syrup for Canadians)
8fl oz Buttermilk
full cream milk

Method:
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add all the other dry ingredients and mix well. Rub in the butter, and then add the syrup and milk. Mix this with a knife until the consistency is soft and pliable

Turn onto a floured surface and roll quickly and lightly, handling as little as possible, to approx 3/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds

Grease and heat the griddle (or heavy frying pan). Lift the scones onto the griddle and turn once until brown on both sides. Serve freshly baked (normally with butter).

Tip for testing heat in the griddle:
Sprinkle a little flour on it. If the flour turns brown immediately then it is TOO hot. It should take a few seconds to change colour.

Fiona’s Butter Scotch Pudding

Yield: 6
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup 35% cream
• 1/4 cup cold salted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp single malt highland whisky
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Combine 60 ml (1/4 cup) of the sugar, the cornstarch and the flour in a saucepan
2. Add the milk and eggs and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
3. Place the remaining 1 ¼ cup sugar and the water in another saucepan and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any sugar crystals from the sides of the pan. Simmer without stirring until the mixture turns golden. Remove from the heat and slowly add the cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until smooth.
4. Slowly pour the caramel into the egg mixture while whisking. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer gently for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add the butter, whisky and vanilla; stir until smooth. Pour the mixture into six 125-ml (1/2-cup) ramekins. Refrigerate for about 3 hours.

Typsy Laird (Scottish Trifle)
Ingredients
1 sponge cake cut into 1 inch slices 
12oz of raspberry jam (Robertsons preferred)
1 wine glass of sherry 
3 tablespoons of Drambuie or Glayva whisky liqueur or brandy
Homemade egg custard (recipe follows)
12oz raspberries 
2 sliced bananas (optional to traditionalists)
Half pint (300mls) heavy cream 
1 tablespoon sugar 
Toasted slivered almonds 

Home Made Egg Custard
Ingredients 

8 fl oz (250mls) milk 
5 fl oz (150mls) heavy cream 
2 egg yolks 
1 oz (50gm) white sugar 
Several drops of vanilla essence 
Directions:
1. Make the custard by whisking the egg yolks, the sugar and the vanilla until it becomes pale and creamy. 
2. Put the cream and milk (from the custard ingredients) into a saucepan and heat the mixture until it reaches boiling point. Slowly stir this into the egg mixture.
3. Put this mixture into a new saucepan and stir continuously over a low heat. The mixture will start to thicken. Once thick pour into a separate bowl and set aside to cool. 
4. Once cooled pour the mixture into the original bowl, over the layered fruit and sponge. Spread out evenly.

Assemble the Typsy Laird Sherry Trifle
Directions
1. Put the sponge into the bottom of a large glass bowl. Spread the raspberry jam over the sponges. (this can be made easier by heating opened jam in microwave for 40 seconds).
2. Mix the sherry and other alcohol into a glass and then sprinkle the liquid over the sponge base. 
3. Once the liquid has soaked into the sponge, then add a layer of raspberries and the bananas. (The bananas are an optional ingredient and do not appear in traditional recipes for Typsy Laird).
4. Whip the heavy cream then add the sugar and spoon this mixture onto the top of the bowl, above the custard. 
5. Decorate with the toasted almonds. 

This Gypsy Laird Scottish Sherry Trifle will serve up to 8 people.