Scottish Country Dance of the Day

Dancing definitely works up an apetite and might make you feel justified in perusing the dessert table at the treat table after the dance. This lively reel (or jig) is truly "a piece of cake", that is, easy to teach and learn. Are you a fan of cheesecake? Are you a dancer who prefers the rich, creamy decadence of New York Style, the traditional charm of Pennsylvania Dutch Style, the tangy twist of Country Style (Buttermilk), or the nostalgic flavors of the mid-century modern Unbaked Cheesecake? Or though you may like to have your cake and eat it too, do you prefer your cheese separately? If so, you may be the exception as cheesecake has been adored since the days of ancient Rome with popularity surges throughout the centuries. In fact, even the term "cheesecake" has been used to describe a beautiful woman since as far back as 1660! In a verse published in 1662, after the death of Oliver Cromwell (who supposedly did not care for such desserts), the poem laments Cromwell driving certain ladies of questionable repute out of town: "But ah! It goes against our hearts, To lose our cheesecake and our tarts." 🤪 🧀 🍰 🧡

The tradition of making decorated gingerbread houses started in Germany in the early 1800s, most likely as a result of the wider publication of the Grimm's fairy tales, with the description of the witch's edible sugar and bread house in the folk tale of Hansel & Gretel. Gingerbread making, however, goes back centuries and is specialized and highly prized art.  In the 17th century, only professional gingerbread bakers were permitted to bake it (except at Christmas and Easter, when such restrictions were relaxed).

Dunk, roll and reel, doughnuts! Do you confess to doughnut dunking? Whether you prefer old-fashioned cake or glazed doughnuts, or if you've sampled the newest trends such as sourdough doughnuts, Earl Grey liqueur toppings, and "dinky doughnuts" tiny bite-sized "doughnut dots", there's something for everyone! Keeping up with these delicious trends can be exhausting, so preserve your energy for this doughnut-shaped reel! Doughnuts have a rich and disputed history, with several countries claiming to be their originator. One of the earliest known mentions of doughnuts in literature dates back to American author Washington Irving's 1809 "History of New York," where he described "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks," a traditional Dutch treat. A hundred years later, at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, doughnuts—with their now characteristic hole—were hailed as the "Hit Food of the Century of Progress" because they were fresh and could be quickly made by automated machines, making them an easily obtained food during the Depression. Include doughnuts in your next tea dance, cake-walk or doughnut-walk! 🍩 💗 🍩 💛 🍩 💙

A Yule log (or bûche de Noël) is a traditional holiday dessert served near Christmas, especially in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Canada, Lebanon and several former French colonies, as well as the United Kingdom and Catalonia. Made of sponge cake to resemble a miniature actual Yule log, it is a form of sweet roulade, swiss roll, or jelly roll - a sponge cake filled with cream, jam or icing. In the UK, a similarly inspired everyday dessert, Jam Roly-Poly, is made with a flat-rolled suet pudding rather than cake, then filled with jam and served hot with custard. For added naming whimsy, this dessert is also called Shirt-Sleeve pudding, DeCleats' Arm, Dead Man's Arm or Dead Man's Leg! Pastry, cake, puddings, it's all good, especially during the holiday season! Recipe Included: Pistachio Roulade with Raspberries and White Chocolate

Meyer lemons are not impossible to eat, they are quite delightful! A former decorative houseplant and backyard ornamental, the Meyer lemon, is a sweeter and juicier cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. These lemons only became popular after being featured by chef Martha Stewart in her 1980s recipes: lemon-pine nut tart, whole-wheat spaghetti with Meyer lemon, arugula and pistachios, coffee cake with thinly sliced Meyer lemons in the batter. Prior to that, these lemons had not been popular with growers because their thin skin made them difficult to ship long distances. Recipe included: Martha Stewart's Meyer Lemon Shortbread Wreaths with Rosemary 🍋🍋🍋

Shortbread was an expensive luxury in times past and for ordinary people, usually reserved for special occasions such as weddings, Christmas and New Year celebrations. In Shetland it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the threshold of her new home! Although shortbread fingers and petticoat tails are the most common baking shapes, Walker's Shortbread, one of the most easily recognizable brands, sometimes creates special edition shapes, such as camels!

Regardless of shape, Scottish shortbread starts with just four ingredients: butter, salt, sugar, and flour. Intrepid bakers and top chefs have added modern touches such as browning the butter; toasting the sugar; adding cornstarch; and coating the baking pan with a generous layer of Demerara sugar to give the shortbread a nice granular topping. But for traditional and regional shortbread variations, try a recipe for Pitcaithly Bannock (made with almonds, caraway seeds, and crystallized orange) or Yetholm Bannock (which includes chopped ginger)! Yum!

It's fruitcake weather! This delightful jig has plenty of turns, teapot figures and chases, rotationally appropriate for a Stir-up Sunday! There's no cake with such a large percentage of admirers and detractors as the ubiquitous holiday fruitcake! Coming early this year, "Stir-up Sunday" is traditionally the Sunday before Advent to begin holiday baking, particularly for plum puddings or soused fruitcakes. Love them or hate them, when a fruitcake contains a good deal of alcohol and sugar it can remain edible for many years! Many antique fruitcakes remain extant and are cherished by their owners. The most recent archaeological find of a preserved fruitcake was a 106-year-old fruitcake discovered in 2017 by the Antarctic Heritage Trust in a hut on Cape Adare, part of the 1913 Terra Nova expedition let by Robert Falcon Scott. Wrapped in paper and the remains of a tin, the fruitcake was deemed "in excellent condition," according to the trust, and looking and smelling "almost edible"! As far as fruitcakes, go, you can't ask for more than that! 🤪 🍰 🍍 🍐 🍋 🍒

This ice-cream inspired reel, perfect for an ice-cream social dance, was devised with the following instructions for each 8 of the 32 bars: Wash Your Hands; Scoop Out the Ice Cream From the Container; Plop the Ice Cream on Top of the Cone; Watch the Ice Cream Drip Down the Side of the Cone & Wipe it Up with a Napkin, all with steps to match! Be it ice cream or candy, Rocky Road is a retro favorite! With various origin stories, Rocky Road ice cream's popularity in the United States is said to be linked to the 1929 stock market crash. In 1906, William Dreyer emigrated from Germany to California to master the art of ice cream making. He opened his first ice cream shop in Visalia, California, and eventually partnered with Joseph Edy, a candy maker, to start a combined company in Oakland, California. Dreyer reportedly used his wife’s sewing scissors to cut up pieces of marshmallow and walnuts, then added them to chocolate ice cream. Although the walnuts were later replaced by almonds, this new flavor combination was named "Rocky Road," alluding to the tumultuous effect of the October 1929 stock market crash on the economy. May you never find rocks in your ghillies, and may your pas de basques as if you're dancing on marshmallows! Two scoops! 🍨🍨

Aw. Go ahead and have a slice. You can dance it off with any Scottish Country Dance, especially a high caloric jig with pas de basques such as this dance! Making chocolate cakes (and eating them) are easier than ever since powdered chocolate was made available to cooks by 1828. Originally used mostly for beverages, by 1886, cooks began adding chocolate to the cake batter, to make the first chocolate cakes! Molasses manufacturer, The Duff Company of Pittsburgh, introduced Devil's Food chocolate cake mixes in the mid-1930s, which became massively popular post war-time and figured in many classic recipe books. Additionally, the availability of "cake mixes" from manufacturers such Pillsbury and Duncan Hines added to the popularity of cake baking. Do you remember these chocolate cake trends? 1960s "Tunnel of Fudge" Bundt cakes; 1980s Chocolate Decadence cakes; 1990s Chocolate Lava cakes; 2000s artisan Chocolate Cupcakes; and 2010s Flourless Chocolate cakes and tortes. Recents trends include innovative flavour combinations (chocolate and lavender, matcha or chili) but traditional cakes never fail to please. And although the recipe which inspired this dance is unknown, see the comments for a tasty equivalent! 🍫🍰

“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!” or “Let them eat cake!” is perhaps the most famous quote about cake ever, attributed (most likely falsely) to Marie Antoinette herself, which she supposedly uttered upon being informed that the peasants were so poor that they had no bread to eat during one of the famines that occurred in France during the reign of her husband, Louis XVI. 🍰

But adding a Crumbly Christmas Cookie Ceilidh to your holiday dance party is a wonderful way to "deck the halls" with something tasty! A "Cookie Shine" is a cookie-sharing party! So whether you refer to them as biscuits, cookies, treats, or something else, bring a baker's dozen of kilted gingerbread men to your next dance party for some holiday fun! While crisp cookies are known as "biscuits" in most English-speaking countries outside the US and Canada, the term "cookie" is often reserved for chewier varieties. In Scotland, however, a "cookie" might also refer to a plain bun, adding a local twist to the name. The word itself traces back to the Dutch term koekje—or its informal dialect version koekie—meaning "little cake." It made its way into American English during the early 1600s with the Dutch settlers of New Netherland. Adding to the cookie lore is the age-old debate: to dunk or not to dunk? This simple act, steeped in social customs, has even caught the attention of physicists, who study how well cookies hold liquid before crumbling. This 32 bar very lively reel with its namesake tune, rights and lefts, and half poussettes will definitely help you burn off those visits to the cookie table! 🤪 🎄 🎅 🍪 🍪 🍪

As Shakespeare reminds us with his famous phrase, "cakes and ale," life’s pleasures are meant to be celebrated—and what better day to do so than Cake Day with a tribute cake dance! Whether you fancy rich, chocolatey decadence to light, fruity sponge cakes, or from classics like Victoria sponge or the traditional charm of Eccles Cakes, there’s a treat for every taste. Eccles Cakes, originating in the town of Eccles in Greater Manchester, England, are small, flaky pastries filled with currants, sugar, and spices, first sold commercially by James Birch in the late 18th century. This cake-named jig was devised to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Eccles and District Scottish Society and begins with a sprightly Espagnole! But beware, not of the dance, but of the innocent Eccles cakes which have recently gained notoriety for a fiery twist! Their Demerara sugar topping has been reported to spark flames in microwaves under certain conditions. So, enjoy your cakes, but keep the drama in the Shakespearean plays and on the dance floor, rather than in your kitchen! 💛 🍰 🍰 🍰

Unlike apple pie (the first recipe of which hails from Chaucer-era England) , Key Lime Pie is a uniquely American dessert. This pie is considered the official pie of the Florida Key (although ironically, the majority of Key Lime trees introduced by the Spanish in the 1500s were wiped out during the hurricane of 1926 and replaced by Persian Limes)! At any rate, recipes for Key Lime Pie were not recorded until the 1930s. At this time, fresh milk, refrigeration, and ice where not available in the Keys until the arrival of tank trucks with the opening of the Overseas Highway in 1930. Because of this lack of milk, local cooks relied on canned sweetened condensed milk, a key ingredient which makes this pie so smooth and delicious. Recipe included: Key Lime Bars!

A 32 bar reel with minty-fresh setting and swirling is bound to please. The most recognizable of flavours and scents, minty treats are often flavoured with crème de menthe, a bright green mint liqueur derived from the tiny Corsican mint plant. So distinctive is this liqueur, it figures in literature, music, and history! Agatha Christie's fastidious Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, who favours liqueurs in general, has a particular fondness for crème de menthe in particular. The composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, although otherwise a teetotaler, found that a glass of crème de menthe steadied his nerves when playing his own technically demanding piano score - the twenty-fourth variation of his "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" and nicknamed it the "Crème de Menthe Variation." Used in cocktails and many desserts, mint pairs naturally with chocolate and appears in favourite candies such as: Kendal Mint Cake, Andes Mints, Junior Mints, York Peppermint Patties, and After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins. Kendal Mint Cake candy was even carried by Sir Edmund Hillary to mount Everest in 1953 and by Sir Ernest Shackleton on his Antarctic expedition of 1914-17! Delicious! 💚 💚 💚 🥮 🍃

If you're out of cherry liqueur (Kirschwasser) or just can't find your cherry-pitter today to make an authentic Black Forest Cake, the delicious and indulgent German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, made with chocolate and cherries, there are other classic cherry deserts that can delight and amaze. British Cherry Cake (with cherries throughout the sponge), Cherries Jubilee (with cherries on fire), and Cherpumple, a British novelty dish in which several different flavor pies are baked inside of several different flavors of cake and stacked together! In a Cherpumple, the apple pie is baked in spice cake, the pumpkin in yellow cake, and the cherry in white cake! Goodness gracious! If this all seems too much, indulge in more leisurely pursuits such as this strathspey with swirling mixing figures. 🍰 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Fooled you! The classic puree of fruit and custard, the fruit fool (whether it be strawberry, gooseberry, raspberry, rhubarb, or blackberry) has nothing in particular to do with April Fool's Day! And although food historians do not agree on the origin of its name, fool/foole is first mentioned as a dessert in 1598 with recipes beginning to appear in cookery books by the mid 17th century. There are even two classic fruitless fools dating from the 17th and 18th centuries - the Norfolk Fool and the Westminster Fool (which have the addition of cake, similar to trifles, with and without the addition of sack sherry). Regardless of ingredients, these are fools to suffer gladly. Be a dancing fool today! Recipes included!

Folk tales of runaway food type are found in Germany, the British Isles, Eastern Europe, as well the United States. Similar tales include "The Runaway Pancake" from Germany and Scandinavia, "The Roule Galette" from France, and "The Wee Bannock" from Scotland. In Hungary,  the tale "The Little Dumpling," contrary to the title, refers not to a dumpling, but to the Hungarian version of runaway head cheese! ​ Recipe included: Gingerbread Shortbread with a Nutmeg Glaze

The fluffy chiffon cake is a classic mid-century modern cake style credited to a California insurance salesman turned caterer, who sold his fluffy cake secret to General Mills who then released recipes to the public in a Betty Crocker pamphlet in 1948. Chiffon cakes are made by substituting oil for butterfat and aerating the cake by whipping egg whites separately from the yolks and then folding this into the batter to produce a delicate light texture. Of course, if life gives you lemons, you can always make a whisky sour too :-) Recipe included! 🍋🍰

The word "walnut" comes from the old English “walh-hnuts,” meaning foreign nut. Today this species is generally referred to as the English walnut. The black walnut, native to North America, does not have as pleasant a taste when eaten raw and is more bitter; however, it does retains more of its flavor when cooked. Early English settlers in the American Colonies had to depend on the native black walnut because imported English walnut trees did not adapt easily. On the west coast of the US, however, the Franciscan fathers also brought walnut trees to California in the early 1700s from Mexico. Through their efforts, walnut trees were planted in the courtyards of the California missions, where they flourished. The Grizzly Bear pie, a walnut pie variation made with with walnuts and honey, is a delicious nod to California's historic roots. Recipes included! 🥧 🐻 🍯 🌰

A "Clootie/Cloutie Dumpling" is the Scottish version of a Christmas pudding. Firstly and most importantly, it is a pudding boiled in a "clout," a cloth. The tradition comes from the days before people had ovens and so cooked much of their food by boiling ingredients in huge pots. Although flour, suet, dried fruit and spices always feature, regional variations, like the addition of treacle, feature in Fife and other areas. And like all traditional puddings, clootie dumplings come with their own set of traditions. When it's being made everyone in the household should give it a good skelp – or smack – to make sure it has a nice round shape! Serve with custard. 🎄 🥮

Cranberries were a staple for Native Americans, who harvested wild cranberries and used them in a variety of remedies, drinks, and foods, including pemmican, a combination paste of dried berries, meats, and fats. Sailors used cranberries as a source of vitamin C to prevent scurvy. During World War II, American troops required about one million kilograms of dehydrated cranberries a year!

Shortbread originated in Scotland, with the first printed recipe appearing in 1736, from a Scotswoman named Mrs. McLintock. Shortbread was so popular, early Scottish bakers fought to prevent shortbread from being classified as a biscuit to avoid paying a government biscuit tax! Do you have a family or favourite shortbread recipe with just the right proportions of butter, sugar, and flour (and maybe some salt to enhance the flavour)? Or maybe you fancy the occasional addition of chai, rosemary, lemon, or chocolate - flavours compatible with a sweet biscuit. Some recent shortbread trends may not be for everyone. One trendy addition is adding the flavour of Katsuobushi, a smoked, aged and dried skipjack tuna, which gives an unusual umami character! Hmmm ... you have to draw a line in the flour somewhere. Although we have not found the namesake recipe referenced by the dance, included are traditional regional variations such as: Pitcaithly Bannock (almonds, caraway seeds, crystallized orange) and Yetholm Bannock (chopped ginger)! 🧈

Just a few ingredients in your cupboards? Get out your oatcake recipes or queue the music for this dance! Oatcakes have been documented as existing in Scotland since at least the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, and most likely before then. Oats were one of the few grains that grew well in the north of Scotland and were, until the 20th century, the staple grain used. Typically, oatcakes are made on a girdle (griddle) or by baking rounds of oatmeal on a tray. Scottish soldiers in the 14th century carried a metal plate and a sack of oatmeal so that they could make their own! According to contemporary accounts, a soldier would heat the plate over fire, moisten a bit of oatmeal and make a cake to "comfort his stomach. Hence it is no marvel that the Scots should be able to make longer marches than other men." No wonder, indeed! 🌾

Don't fret, Julia, the days of obligatory fat-free desserts are blessedly over. Indulge in this luscious jig containing enough circles, wheels, and grand chains to froth up a virtual chocolate mousse for four couples. This most elegant of desserts was first described by Alexandre Viard, chef to Louis XVI and Napoleon, and later referred to as "mousse au chocolat" in the 1820 edition of his culinary encyclopedia, Le Cuisinier Royal. But the popularity of this tasty chocolate dessert really began to surge when the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), who was also known for his culinary skills, came up with a recipe he first named “mayonnaise au chocolat.” Hmmm ... At any rate, Peter Hastings' actual deliclious recipe included with the dance cribs for your delectation and post-dance swooning! 🍫 🍫 🍫

If you've overserved yourself at the dessert table, you may feel the need to "shake the pudding down"! The expression "shake the pudding down" is a colloquial phrase that originates from the act of settling one's food, particularly a heavy or filling meal, in the stomach. This lively dance will definitely shake things up, hopefully in the right direction! The sweet plum and figgy puddings we associate with Christmas have their origins in much heartier fare—and, surprisingly, they rarely contained actual plums or figs! In 14th-century Britain, a savory dish combining beef, mutton, raisins, prunes, wine, and spices took the form of a soup-like concoction. Over time, the addition of grains transformed it into a thicker porridge called "frumenty." By Elizabethan times, as preparations for Christmas meals grew more elaborate, raisins, currants, and the then-popular prunes were incorporated into the mix. These ingredients were stored in animal stomachs or intestines, forming sausage-like shapes to be served throughout the festive season. During this era, "plum" became a general term for dried fruits, and "figgy" became synonymous with raisins. Shake it up, dancers! 💜 🤎 💜 🍬 🍬 🍬

Happy St. Nicholas' Day with a twisting and turning reel inspired by that most recognizable of holiday treats, the candy cane! If you successfully avoided the Krampus last night and left out your ghillies, you might have woken to find them filled with delightful treat from St. Nicholas himself! On St. Nicholas Eve, many children prepare their shoes with carrots and hay for St. Nick's horse or donkey, hoping to find small gifts in return—perhaps fruits, nuts, chocolates, candies, cookies, coins, poems, riddles, or even a candy cane! Legend has it that the iconic candy cane traces its shape back to a 17th-century German choirmaster, who bent the hard candy into the form of a shepherd’s staff to remind children of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. As the patron saint of children and shepherd to his people, St. Nicholas is often depicted with a crozier, a hook-shaped staff symbolizing his role as a spiritual guide. In addition to candy canes, the feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated with other traditional treats, like St. Nicholas cookies. These spiced holiday cookies, reminiscent of gingerbread, feature warm flavors such as cloves, anise, pepper, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice—though notably without molasses! ❤️ 🤍 ❤️ 🎅🏻 🍬🍬🍬

Hickory nuts, Chestnuts, Walnuts, Nutting parties! A classic autumn harvest activity, Nutting parties were a much anticipated outdoor event for young people in Victorian times for socializing and fall picnics. Baskets and blankets would be collected and a search mounted for the groves with the best nut trees. Shaken branches would yield a shower of nuts which could be eaten on the spot or brought back for an indoor party. Nut gatherers made sure to save some nuts for the month of October, when nuts tossed in the fire could be used for fortune telling or romantic divination, especially near or on Hallowe'en's Nutcrack Night! 🌰

Hickory nuts, Chestnuts, Walnuts, Nutting parties! This 32 bar reel which is very similar to "The Gordon Highlanders" was inspired by the walnut orchards near Grenoble, northwards up to Chambery and southwards down to Valence, all along the lsere valley. A classic autumn harvest time activity, nutting parties were a much anticipated outdoor event for young people in Victorian times for socializing and fall picnics. Baskets and blankets would be collected and a search mounted for the groves with the best nut trees. Shaken branches would yield a shower of nuts which could be eaten on the spot or brought back for an indoor party. Nut gatherers made sure to save some nuts for the month of October, when nuts tossed in the fire could be used for fortune telling or romantic divination, especially near or on Hallowe'en's Nutcrack Night! 🤎 🌳 🌰 🌰 🌰