National Post (National Edition)
the pull of the HEBRIDES
Third cookbook shares recipes for nostalgic Scottish treats and stories of Hebridean culture, folklore and history
Scottish textiles are as essential to author Coinneach MacLeod (a.k.a. the Hebridean Baker) as golden syrup.
In the crofting township of Cromore (Gaelic for “big cow”), his mother was a Harris tweed weaver. The rhythmic clacking of her treadle loom, in chorus with many others in sheds around the village, “is one of the sounds of the Hebrides.” Keen observers will spot cakes, cocktails and custards set on a woollen tweed backdrop in photos throughout MacLeod's new book, The Hebridean Baker: At Home (Sourcebooks, 2024). Colourful Scottish knitwear has become a hallmark of his social media videos and cookbooks. While he enjoys continually coming up with new baking recipes, “What I do find stressful or intimidating is trying to find new Fair Isle sweaters. I spend most of my life looking for those,” says MacLeod, laughing.
Born and raised on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, MacLeod rose to fame as the Hebridean Baker on TikTok in 2020. He's since written three cookbooks in as many years. His second, The Hebridean Baker: My Scottish Island Kitchen (2023), was a Canadian bestseller, and he kicked off his 13-city North American book tour for The Hebridean Baker: At Home in Vancouver last month.
As he walked to Book Warehouse for a night of songs and stories (MacLeod is also an accomplished singer), a stranger called out in Gaelic, his mother tongue. “He unbelievably emigrated from my village, which only has 30 houses in it, to Vancouver Island over 40 years ago. When he heard I was coming to Vancouver, he travelled all the way from Vancouver Island. It meant the world to me, and that just set the tone for the whole tour.”
In Calgary, MacLeod's second stop, the good vibes continued. A man clad in a beautiful Fair Isle sweater, a distinctive type of stranded colourwork from the Shetland Islands, waited to speak with him after the event. “He said, `Since I started buying your books, I kept seeing you in these Fair Isle jumpers. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I learned to knit them myself.' I love the fact that I've inspired folk to bake or come to the Hebrides. I never expected to inspire somebody to knit.”
Alongside recipes for classic Scottish bakes such as fern cake and toasted Selkirk bannock with marmalade syrup, savoury dishes such as salmon Wellington and leek bread and butter pudding, and festive specialties such as spiced carrot hot cross buns for Easter and a chapter devoted to Christmas in the Hebrides, MacLeod shares stories of island culture, folklore and history — and a baking playlist, “Because music is a great way to be introduced to the Gaelic language.”
MacLeod and his partner, Peter MacQueen, host of the gardening show Gàrradh Phàdruig on BBC Alba, spend much of the year living off the grid in a hut MacQueen built with his father. The chapter “From Croft to Table” (farm-totable, Scottish style) features recipes using their homegrown produce: apples and berries, beets and carrots, leeks and zucchini, potatoes and rhubarb.
Where Canadians might have a cabin, camp, chalet or cottage (depending on the part of the country), Scots have huts, which the government defines as a structure no more than 30 square metres without mains electricity or running water. MacLeod and MacQueen paddle in and out, packing everything they need in their canoe. They start their days with wild swimming and take baths in a woodfired hot tub — under the stars. “People say, `Oh, does it not feel rough and ready?' Or, `Do you not miss the finer things of life?' And I'm like, `This is the finer things.'”
The Hebridean Baker “all started very humbly,” says MacLeod. He began sharing Scottish recipes and stories online when his Aunt Bellag, who is 95, gave him her recipe for duff (clootie dumpling). “It happened to be her 65th wedding anniversary that day. Her husband is 96, so the secret to a long life is Hebridean cakes, that's for sure,” he adds with a laugh. (MacLeod featured the original recipe in his first book, The Hebridean Baker: Recipes and Wee Stories from the Scottish Islands, and a banana version in At Home.)
Since he shared his aunt's duff recipe, 28 million people have watched his videos. What started as a way to preserve a way of life for other islanders found a much larger audience.
MacLeod's previous career as a development officer in sports took him around the world but the Hebrides pulled him back in. “There's this beautiful Gaelic word: cianalas. There's no direct Gaelic-to-English translation, but cianalas is a sense of place. It's a longing for somewhere — and the place being the Hebrides. I knew I wanted to return. And even though I have had in my career in sport these wonderful adventures overseas, as they say, `The blood is strong.'”
He journeyed throughout the Hebrides while writing the book, which is also a travel guide of sorts, visiting Barra, Islay, Uist, Berneray and Harris before returning home to Lewis. Scottish celebrities contributed some of their favourite spots in the islands. Even though he grew up there, some were even new to MacLeod, such as a hidden poem of two halves, etched under a bridge, recommended by filmmaker and outdoor swimmer Calum Maclean.
“Folk buy my cookbooks for lots of different reasons — some for the recipes, and that's amazing. Some for the photography or the stories of the myths and legends and family stories I put in them. And now, I hope people might be inspired to come and visit the Hebrides because we are very proudly Scottish, but we're a wee bit different. Our culture is different. We were part of Norway for 400 years, so our language is different — the language of Gaelic. Our landscapes are quite unique as well.”
Though MacLeod's repertoire has grown over the years, the traditional Scottish recipes he learned from his mother and aunts are at its heart. He describes himself as “a bit of a cookbook nerd” and takes inspiration from old tomes, such as F. Marian McNeill's The Scots Kitchen (1929) and The Practice of Cookery (1829) by Prince Edward Islander Catherine Emily Callbeck Dalgairns (a.k.a. Mrs Dalgairns).
It's not just the recipes that appeal to him but the stories connected to them.
He recalls finding a Shetland recipe for a classic petticoat-tail shortbread flavoured with caraway seeds, which the mother-ofthe-bride traditionally makes on her daughter's wedding day. As the bride walks back down the aisle after getting married, her mother smashes the shortbread over her head, and the guests rush over to catch a piece before it hits the floor.
“You put it under your pillow, and you're supposed to have sweet dreams. And I hope that as somebody comes to the table with one of my bakes or recipes, they tell these stories to go along with it, because I think they make them even sweeter.”
FERN CAKE
Serves: 8
For the pastry:
❚ 200 g (7 oz) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
❚ 2 tbsp icing sugar
❚ 100 g (3 1/2 oz) butter, chilled and diced
❚ 1 large egg, beaten
❚ 1 tbsp milk
❚ Pinch of salt
❚ Baking beans for blind baking
For the filling:
❚ 150 g (5 oz) butter
❚ 150 g (5 oz) superfine sugar (see note)
❚ 3 large eggs, beaten
❚ 150 g (5 oz) ground almonds ❚ 1/2 tsp almond extract ❚ 1 lemon, zested
❚ 4 tbsp raspberry jam
For the topping:
❚ 200 g (7 oz) icing sugar
❚ 1 tsp almond extract
❚ 8 tsp water (plus more if necessary)
❚ Food colouring gel, green for the classic fern shape
To make the pastry
1. Sift the flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Then, using your fingertips, rub in the butter until it forms fine crumbs. Add the beaten egg and milk and lightly bring together to form a firm dough, taking care not to handle it any more than necessary. Shape into a disc (which will be easier to roll out later), then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.
2. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a pound coin (or a loonie). Use it to line a 23-cm (9-inch) fluted, loose-bottomed tart tin. Trim the excess and prick all over with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 160C fan (350F) along with a baking sheet. Place baking paper over the pastry in the tart tin and scatter over the baking beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and paper. Cook for a further 5 minutes until pale golden.
To make the filling & topping
4. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time, then fold in the ground almonds, almond extract and lemon zest.
5. Spread the jam evenly across the base of the pastry case, then spoon over the sponge mixture, levelling the surface with the back of the spoon.
6. Bake for 30 minutes until golden, well risen and just set in the centre. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then lift onto a wire rack and cool completely.
7. To make the topping, put the icing sugar in a mixing bowl with the almond extract. Stir in a teaspoon of water at a time until you have a thick, smooth, spreadable fondant.
8. Pour the white fondant mixture on top of the tart, taking it to the edge of the crust. Pipe the zigzag fern design with food colouring gel onto the fondant and then drag a toothpick down the lines to create a feathered effect. Allow to set completely before serving.
Note: MacLeod prefers to use golden caster (superfine) sugar, which isn't generally available in Canada. The main difference between it and regular superfine sugar “is the colour and a slightly more caramel taste,” he writes. “It will not affect the bake too much, so you can stick to superfine sugar if need be.”
SPICED CARROT HOT CROSS BUNS
Makes: a dozen
For the buns:
❚ 300 mL (1 1/4 cup) milk
❚ 50 g (1 3/4 oz) butter
❚ 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
❚ 75 g (2 1/2 oz) sugar
❚ 7 g (1/4 oz) sachet fast-action dried yeast
❚ 1 tsp salt
❚ 1 tsp ground cinnamon
❚ 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg ❚ 1 egg, beaten
❚ 80 g (2 3/4 oz) carrots
❚ 100 g (3 1/2 oz) raisins
❚ A little oil, for rising the dough
For the crosses:
❚ 100 g (3 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
❚ 4 tbsp water
To glaze:
❚ 2 tbsp apricot jam ❚ To make the buns
1. In a pan, heat the milk gently until it begins to simmer. Add the butter and leave it to cool slightly.
2. Add the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and spices to a large bowl.
3. When the milk has cooled to lukewarm, make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, pour the milk in and add the beaten egg.
4. Mix well with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to bring everything together into a sticky dough.
5. On a lightly floured work surface knead the dough until it's smooth, which should take about 10 minutes.
6. Lightly oil a bowl and add the dough. Cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size.
7. Peel and grate the carrot, then wring it out in a clean tea towel to remove excess moisture. Add it to the bowl of dough along with the raisins. Knead the dough in the bowl to evenly distribute.
8. Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces and shape into small round buns. Place them onto a baking tray, leaving room for them to expand, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Leave to rise again for an hour.
9. Heat the oven to 180C fan (400F) and line a baking tray. TO make the crosses
10. In a bowl, mix the flour with the water to make a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag and, with a small nozzle, pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses.
11. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown then transfer to a wire rack.
12. Heat the apricot jam, then use a pastry brush to brush it onto the tops of the warm buns and allow to cool.
Recipes and images excerpted from The Hebridean Baker: At Home by Coinneach MacLeod. Copyright ©2024 Coinneach MacLeod. Photographs by Susie Lowe. Published by Sourcebooks. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.