Dundee cake is a cake you will see loose or maybe in a fancy tin at Christmas time. It is said to be Her Majesty The Queen's favourite tea time cake. You can recognize it immediately by the concentric circles of almonds on the top. Whole blanched almonds.
The story goes that another queen, Mary Queen of Scots, did not like the candied cherries which featured as decoration on the top of cakes in her day. So a new cake was designed for her minus the decorative cherries which were replaced by almonds. I have not yet seen any corroboration of this story. But, as another popular saying goes, why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
A variation on the story of the cake's origin has it invented by Keiller's Marmalade factory.
My husband, who used to live in Scotland, in Aberdeen, went to Dundee once or twice. He says, "Like most foods, there are lots of stories about it and its origin."
Dundee cake is rather dry, for my taste. I like moist cakes such as cheesecake and apple strudel. But if you are into dry foods which you find filling, this might be the thing for you.
Whilst you are eating your Dundee cake, you might consider planning your next trip to Dundee and what you would like to see. The city is Scoatlan'd fourth largest, and promoted as one city, many discoveries. Highlights include:
Dundee cake, Rich fruit cake topped with flaked almonds which you can buy on the internet. From Nevis bakery. On Amazon, UK.
The ship was built here.
2
The Victoria and Albert Dundee Deign Museum
The distinctvely modern museum is designed to look like a ship.
3 Dundee Museum of Transport
It contains a piece of the original Tay Bridge.
D C Thomson offices. Producing magazines including Dandy and Beano. A popular character was Desperate Dan whose statue was erected in the city centre.
What next and where next?
If you are keen on Scottish history, or ancestors, or want to have a themed evening, for New Year's eve and Auld Lang Syne, or Burns Night in January, how about a kilt to go with it. Add some bagpipe music to put you in the mood for bonnie Scotland!
If you are into history, there's Edinburgh and authors, or Glasgow and art, or Glencoe and the battle, or Aberdeen, or the Harry Potter bridge in my next post.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=dundee+cake
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/dundee-cake
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Discovery_(ship,_1901)
https://kiltsociety.com/collections/kilts
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kilts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Thomson
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, is a semi-retired travel writer still researching bucket list countries and seeking out the special, unusual, people, places, landmarks, hotels, museums and trails, fabulous foods, recipes, clothes and online souvenir shopping.
Angela Lansbury is a member of Toastmasters International.
Angela Lansbury B A Hons is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books.
About Angela The Speaker & Trainer
Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.
Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:
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