Every morning started with a Scottish breakfast buffet laden with scrambled eggs, baked beans, roasted tomato, black sausage, haggis, sausage links, bacon, potato cakes, fresh fruit, cheeses, and assorted breads, rolls, and toast. There was no reason to go hungry! Any type of coffee, tea, and juices were also available.
The rolled pastry is pain au chocolate; a puff pastry delicacy filled with chocolate pieces and baked until golden. Some of them had a creamy filling in addition to the chocolate pieces throughout the pastry. The thin flat triangle is a Scottish Potato Scone, also known as tattie scones. They are a thin, flatbread made with mashed potatoes, flour and salt and baked on a hot griddle and typically served with a full Scottish breakfast. They were, well, different.
Any museum, public garden, tourist stop, or castle would have a cafe where you could simply order tea and be served a hearty black Scottish tea with cream and milk. Of course there was usually a display case laden with Scottish pastries, tarts, tray bakes, and cookies to enjoy after having visited the destination. We shared some treats after walking through the glass houses at Duthie Park Winter Gardens in Aberdeen.
Later in the week, we stopped at a cafe in Aberdeen that offered a palate cleanser to enjoy after finishing your tea. The little glass jar held a flavored water to freshen your mouth after having enjoyed the tea. They also served it if you ordered coffee.
We enjoyed a pot of tea at every opportunity. Isn't the little creamer adorable.
And dessert options, Sticky Toffee Pudding was the dessert of choice for many of the catered dinners we attended. Delicious, all of them, with slight variations. Some of the cakes were more like a soft gingerbread while others were a bit denser with a crispier outer crunch but always served with the warm toffee sauce and a dip of vanilla ice cream, and always a real treat.
Banoffee Pie a classic English dessert, think banana and toffee, atop a pastry crust and served alongside a slice of caramelized banana. It was a treat, one we only ordered once, but I'm sure there are other delicious variations to discover.And the younger generation in our group found their happiness on a totally different menu.
