Tasty Tantallon Cakes Recipe

Tantallon cakes are one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets. This zingy little biscuit provides the perfect twist on one of Scotland’s greatest exports – shortbread.

What are Tantallon cakes?

Tantallon Cakes are, in fact, small biscuits. They are light buttery shortbread with lemon zest and a dusting of sugar that brings these little biscuits to life. Their history is a little hazy, much like many of the other recipes we’ve looked into that grow with a community over the decades.

Tantallon cakes and their recipe are biscuits that have simply been there longer than any record that we could find, and there is something comforting about that.

Tantallon cakes are different from traditional shortbread recipes, such as our own, because they contain lemon zest and egg, which provides an extra depth of flavour and lightness.

Where did Tantallon cakes get their name?

Tantallon cakes are named after a castle in East Lothian that looks over the Firth of Forth. Tantallon Castle is said to be the last great castle built in Scotland in the mid-1300s.

It was the stronghold of the Red Douglases and suffered three sieges before its final destruction by Oliver Cromwell.

Despite this rich history, there is very little information on why this great castle lent its name to the Tantallon Cake. We’re glad it did, though, because such a powerful name has helped to keep this biscuit recipe in the hearts of locals to this very day.

Where do Tantallon Cakes come from?

Tantallon Cakes and the castle of the same name originate several miles east of North Berwick in East Lothian. We used to live there and can happily recommend it as a beautiful place to visit with a wealth of things to see and do. 

Things you’ll need to make Tantallon Cakes

• Large Bowl
• Crinkle edge cookie cutter
• Large Baking Tray
• Wooden spoon
• Pastry cutter to help with mixing the flour and butter
• Zester
• Whisk
• Rolling pin
• Spatula or butter knife
• Baking or parchment paper

Ingredients for Tantallon Cakes

• 200g Plain Flour (1 and 1/2 Cups)
• 50g Corn flour (1/3 Cup)
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 125g Butter (1/2 Cup)
• 75g Caster Sugar (1/2 Cup)
• 1 Large egg
• Zest of one Lemon

How to make Tantallon Cakes – Step-by-step method

Preheat oven to 180C/350F

Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl

Add your egg and whisk it into your mixture.

Zest your lemon into the mix once whisked.

Combine flour and baking soda and mix everything into a dough. At this stage, you may need to use your hands to combine it all.

Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out onto a floured surface. You’re looking for a thickness of 5-7mm all over. This will ensure that your biscuits cook and look the same.

Use your crinkle-edge cutter to cut out as many cakes as you can from your dough. Remove the remainder of the dough and roll it out again. Use your cutter again to cut out more cakes until you have used all of your dough.

Cover your baking tray with baking paper. This will make it easier to remove the cakes once they are baked.

Using a butter knife or a spatula, lift each biscuit onto your covered baking tray.

Prick each cake with a fork with any pattern you like but do keep it simple.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, dust with caster sugar then and allow to cool.

We find that they taste even better the following day, but try your Tantallon cakes with a good, strong cup of tea and let us know what you think.

Enjoy,
Sonja & Phil

How long will Tantallon Cakes last?

They will last for 7-10 days if stored correctly.

How to Store Tantallon Cakes

They will keep well in an airtight container or biscuit tin.

Variations to Tantallon Cakes

These biscuits are a classic, so we wouldn’t suggest playing around with them too much. However, an icing or chocolate coating might be nice, or you could use this recipe to make Empire biscuits, giving another classic the lemon zing that Tantallon Cakes brings to the table.

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