We’re very excited to share some news with you about the upcoming book Food Made in Shetland, written by Marian Armitage and beautifully photographed in Marian’s Shetland home in Scatness by Susan Molloy.

Food Made in Shetland features over 60 recipes, useful tips and insights into the Shetland food scene. The recipes put the best of Shetland produce front and centre and will inspire you to create delicious and tasty meals at home. Marian is very passionate about the use of local produce and offers wonderful creative ideas for getting the best out of cheaper cuts of meat and less-used species of fish. Marian’s straightforward and informative style will inspire you to create deliciously nutritious meals full of flavour and taste.

Food Made in Shetland is available to pre-order now and is going to be published and launched on 30th June.

We’ll share more details in another post but in the meantime here’s one of the recipes for you to try.

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Spiced Treacle Bannocks

The bannocks have always been a highlight and something to look forward to during the Shetland Wool Adventures tours. After a lot of thinking and concentration, you can imagine the delight of the groups, when Wilma Malcolmson and her granddaughter Terri would announce it was time for tea and bannocks during their popular colour blending class!

This is an updated recipe for Wilma Malcolmson’s legendary treacle bannocks and this version is more treacly, fruity and spiced than her original. If you can grind the cloves in a pestle and mortar, and the nutmeg on a fine grater, the difference is really tremendous.

Wilma was patron of Shetland Wool Week for the two pandemic years yet has seen her business grow and flourish in this time. Her talent, experience and skill in all aspects of the knitwear industry are hugely respected both in Shetland and around the world.

Makes 18
500g self-raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
4 level teaspoons spice – ideally ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, mixed spice
25g caster sugar (1 level tablespoon)
50g butter 150g raisins
100g treacle (about 4 dessert spoons)
1 egg
Half pint milk (285 ml)

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C.
2 In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with about 3⁄4 of the milk.
3 Sieve the flour, baking powder, spices and sugar into a large mixing bowl and rub in the butter.
4 Add the raisins.
5 Make a well in the centre and add the treacle and egg/milk mixture and mix with a knife.
6 Add more milk to make a soft consistency.
7 Roll out lightly to about 2cm thick.
8 Cut into triangles and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes.
9 Cool under a tea-towel.
10 Eat warm, spread with Shetland butter.

Note for those of you outside the UK:
Substitute for Treacle
If you don’t have light treacle you can substitute equal amounts of light or dark corn syrup.
OR – for dark treacle substitute equal amounts of molasses.
Mixed spices recipe here.