Where is the Dundee Cake sweet spot?

Business: City limits brought into question as Scottish Government bids to give sweet treat protected status

The city’s boundaries have been a source of dispute between locals for centuries. Now, a row over where one of Dundee’s most famous treats should be made is threatening to leave a bitter taste in bakers’ mouths.

Scottish Government ministers are bidding to give Dundee Cake the same protected status as the likes of Arbroath smokies and Aberdeen Angus beef.

But strict rules over the fruit, marmalade and almond confection’s recipe and where it can be baked and decorated to gain legal protection against imitation in the EU are causing consternation.

Forget the age-old argument about whether or not Broughty Ferry should be considered a separate town in its own right, this dispute centres on the inclusion of Carnoustie in the plans.

Fisher and Donaldson baker wrote to the Scottish Government to say the protection area proposed is “too large”, pointing out the Angus town “still to this day does not form part of Dundee”, despite it being part of the Dundee East constituency. It submitted three maps of the Dundee area in a submission to the consultation on the protection bid.

One shows the cake predates Lochee being incorporated into the city, another suggested the catchment area should be limited to the area within the Kingsway.

The third suggest that, if Carnoustie is to be included, the net should include Glamis to the north, Errol to the west and Ceres and St Andrews to the south.

Those wanting the border narrowed have competition, though, with businesses outside the city complaining the geographical plans do not go far enough.

Anthony Laing, managing director of Shortbread House in Edinburgh, argued he would lose business if his firm was not allowed to use the name. This view is backed by the British Retail Consortium, the trade association for the UK retail industry. “We do not believe that the vast majority of customers associate the name Dundee Cake specifically with the location but rather with the flavour profile (sultanas and citrus) and the decoration,” the BRC told ministers.

We do not believe that the vast majority of customers associate the name Dundee Cake specifically with the location ... BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM

Picture: Alan Richardson. Dundee baker Martin Goodfellow with a Dundee Cake, which may gain Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status.