British Baking Part 9: Great Scot!

A day after I have the chocolate cake at The Cake Maker, I cannot rest until I have another piece. I told you already that I wanted to drive back down the very same day to buy another piece, but thought better of it. I go back to Golspie to see her and am feeling much more like myself. I ask her what the chocolate cake is called.

Being an American, I expect something like Deliciously Sinful Chocolate Cake or Velvety Chocolate Delight (we give these silly sort of names to everything at home).

She tells me "It's Chocolate Cake with a Chocolate Buttercream Icing."

Ah. Again, I like her straightforward-ness. Allow me to speak for her: "I am the Cake Maker, I make cakes. It is chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I don't need a ridiculous name. My cake speaks for itself."

And it does. The cake is moist and light, and the icing voluminous, and whipped to perfection. It is neither overly sweet nor sickly. It is gorgeous.

I take another piece to go.

I go in again the next day. She comments that I am her best customer this week. We laugh. I introduce myself, tell her about my blog, and show her pictures of my baked goods on my mobile phone. She shows me some pictures on her phone too. We talk for a long time. She has shortbread cookies on the counter in the shape of scotty dogs, and I comment how wonderful they are. She gives me the Scotty Dog cookie cutter to borrow (!) and HER RECIPE to try (!!!) While reading off the recipe to me, she looks at me very sternly, directly in the eye and says "Butter. Real butter" and adds for emphasis "Only real butter."

Yes, ma'am.

She makes my day again.

I am giddy. I am touched by the generosity, and tell everyone the story over and over, because I am just stunned by how sweet of a gesture it all was.

I decide to give it a go, trying my best to make the Cake Maker, Debbie, proud. Here goes:

My dough. The dough is more moist than any other shortbread that I have made as of yet. And I've made it about 4 different times (it's one of my hubby's and his family's favorites).(If you've never made shortbread before, the dough tends to be crumbly and dryish).Secret ingredient: icing sugar (powdered/ confectioner's sugar)

Make-shift rolling pin (a plastic wrap tube)

More moist and sticky, I had to add lots of flour to keep it for sticking to the cutting board the next time around.

The funny thing about this is that she warned me this would happen

I made lovely, delicate circular ones too. The icing sugar makes it thin, crisp, and dainty.

My son (and I) love the Scotty dog cutter so much that I make another cookie recipe with it too.

And it's quite comical because the cookie cutter isn't from Scotland or the UK at all.

It is from America.