The Scottish Wedding:

Warm Tradition and Great Food

With warm weather comes the Wedding Season.  There are many touches which can make your wedding distinctively Scottish – American, one of the nicest being the plaiding of the bride, symbolizing the union of two clans.  At the rehearsal dinner, the groom’s mother presents the bride with a tartan sash in her “new” family’s tartan.  The sash is pinned to the right shoulder after it is passed under the left arm.  A timely gift from the groom would be a plaid brooch: a double luckenbooth (two intertwined hearts topped by a crown) would be particularly appropriate.

 On her wedding day, the bride, if she’s a good Scottish lassie, will not want a veil, but will go to the altar with a wreath of white flowers in her hair.  She will have a sixpence in her shoe for good luck, and will wear the plaid sash which her mother-in-law has given her.  The groom, of course , is kilted.  Depending upon the formality of the wedding, he can wear either evening jacket (Prince Charlie or Montrose) or, for a more informal wedding,  a daywear jacket in a dark color.

 The bride always is piped into the church and down the aisle.  Be sure to make arrangements early for your piper; he’ll be in great demand during the Season!  Traditional tunes include “Mairi’s Wedding”, “Highland Wedding”, and “Saint Kilda Wedding”.  For the walk back up the aisle, bride and groom again are preceded by the piper.  Here he might select “Richie na Bainnse”, the traditional wedding reel, or even “Scotland the Brave”.  And of course, the wedding rings should incorporate a traditional, interlaced Celtic knot design; the interlacing denoted infinity.

 The real opportunity to show your “Scottishness” comes at the reception.  Again for good luck, an oatcake is broken over the head of the bride.  All the unmarried ladies take home a piece of the oatcake, put it under their pillows for three nights, and dream of their future husbands.

 Obviously, if you’re planning a really large wedding, you’ll need some help with the catering; but even so, you can add a few “home-made” touches.  If the reception is to be fairly small, you can – with some advanced planning and a good freezer – do much of the food preparation yourself.  First, the punch…

LOVING CUP

 What better punch for a wedding?  The final tasting and adjusting usually can be left in the capable hands of the two fathers! 

 Determine how much sugar to use from the sweetness of the wines; for example, you will need less sugar if you’re using cream sherry than if you’re using dry or “cocktail” sherry.  Put sugar and water in a large pan and heat gently, stirring frequently, until sugar is completely dissolved.  Cool syrup, then add sherry, Madeira, port, Bordeaux and lemon juice.  Mix well, cover, and refrigerate until reception time.  Just before serving, stir well, pour into punch bowl, and add the chilled Champagne.

 At least 2 days before the wedding, make ice rings, using large-sized molds.  Freeze about ½” of water, then add a layer of rose petals, mint leaves, and thin slices of lemon rind.  Carefully pour in just enough water to hold in place and freeze again.  Finally, fill mold and freeze until serving time.  To release ice from mold, dip briefly in hot water.

PEPPERMINT CREAMS

 Sure to be a favorite with everyone at the reception…

 2 egg whites

2 pounds confectioner’s sugar

¼ teaspoon oil of peppermint

 Beat egg whites until frothy but not stiff.  Sift sugar, and stir enough of it into egg white to make a fairly stiff mixture (amount will vary according to size of eggs).  Add oil of peppermint.  Add more, according to taste.  Knead mixture to a stiff paste, then roll it out on a board lightly dusted with sifted confectioner’s sugar.  Cut out in tiny round, leaved or other shapes, approximately ½” across.  (Many kitchen supply stores will have hors d’oeuvres cutters that are the right size).  Place in a single layer on waxed paper and leave in a warm place to dry for 24 hours before storing in an airtight tin.  These can be made well in advance and kept in the freezer.  As wedding time approaches, you can decide if you want to dip or half dip in melted chocolate.  Also, you can add just a drop or two of red food coloring at the same time is oil of peppermint to make light pink mints.  Makes about 2 pounds of candy.

DUNDEE CAKE

Scotland’s traditional fruit cake for all special and family occasions makes the ideal wedding cake.  Serve fairly small slices, as it is very rich.  If you’re having a huge wedding with a huge cake, you still can have a Dundee Cake for the “bride’s cake”.  Make cake several weeks before wedding and store in a airtight tin; it improves with a bit of “aging”. 

 Preheat oven to 325 degreed F.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 7-inch cake pan.  Cut a circle of brown paper or baking parchment to fit bottom of pan.  Fit in place and grease it as well.

 In a large bowl, combine the dried fruits and the ground almonds.  Sift together flour and baking powder.  Using your hands, mix the flour into the dried fruit, making sure to cover fruit well.  This keeps the fruit from going to the bottom of the cake.

 In another bowl, cream butter, sugar and lemon rind well, until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add mild and beat well.

 Using a wooden spoon to start ( you possibly will want to use your hands as the mixture gets stiffer), gradually blend the fruit/flour mixture into the egg/butter mixture.  Make sure all flour is well mixed in.

 Turn cake mixture into the prepared pan and spread it all the way out to the sides, evening the top as you spread.  Decorate the surface with almond halves.

 Bake in a pre-heated oven for 2½-3 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into cent comes out clean.  Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes; then turn out onto wire rack to cool complete, being careful not to dislodge almonds.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

 An interesting variation on shortbread, and a welcome change from cake at the reception.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter shortbread mold or class cookie press.  In a bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth.  Add flour and oatmeal to butter/sugar mixture, stirring until well blended.  Knead until smooth, then knead in cream.  Dough should be soft.

If using shortbread mold, divide in half and press into mold, then turn out onto greased (or non-stick) cookie sheet.  If using cookie press, drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet, then stamp with cookie press.  Be sure to allow room for spreading between cookies. 

Bake in preheated oven 25-30 minutes for cookies, 35-40 minutes for shortbread, or until light brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.  Cool on rack.  If you have made shortbreads, carefully cut into eights.  Store in tightly covered tin until ready to serve.