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My friend Chris Dielmann was recently in St. Andrews, so I asked him to do a guest blog on one of my favorite bakeries in the world. Here it is:
The town of St. Andrews might conjure images of golf courses, royals, and royals on golf courses. But neatly tucked into a side street of the walkable downtown lies perhaps St. Andrews greatest attraction (especially if you have a sweet tooth like me), namely a fifth generation bakery by the name of Fisher & Donaldson that specialize in high end pastries and cream cakes.
Beyond producing breads, rolls, and a wondrous array of truffles, the true star of F & D (and dare I suggest, perhaps the true reason that William chose to attend St. Andrews) are the fudge donuts (below); a light and delicate pastry, filled with cream and topped in a sticky, gooey toffee flavored fudge for which Scotland has become known.
The joys of this “donut” are the combination of textures that contrast yet compliment each other so effortlessly; from the puff pastry that acts like the body, nay I say cradle for the light cream, and finally the toffee that crackles and chips with each bite while still maintaining a devotion to adhesion.
For my American readers, try imagining a lighter, more refined version of a Boston cream donut, which sadly is oft filled with a pudding like substance rather than cream.
Other highlights include coffee and chocolate stacks (below) - delicate puff pastries filled with either coffee or chocolate cream and finally topped with a dark chocolate medallion, as well as the seasonal Strawberry Danish – a miniature pie of fresh strawberries nestled upon a layered flaky puff pastry and held in place with a gelatin based strawberry sauce and a sugared icing.
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| The famous fudge donut |
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| Coffee stack |
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(Guest post by Mey Bulgurlu)
We started our journey into West Scotland from Inverness where we stayed overnight at Bunchrew House, a small hotel on the shore of Beauly Frirth.
After a comfy overnight stay and a great breakfast, we started our drive west through the famous scenic roads of the Scottish Highlands. As we drove on to Shieldaig the scenery got more and more beautiful, well, rather stunning actually!
We arrived at Shieldaig in pouring rain, so much so that we had to wait in the car before we could get out and check in at our hotel, Tigh and Eilean. As we were settling in to our room, the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen appeared, followed by a glorious sun.
Having lived in the UK for some time and knowing that you need to make the most of any pockets of sunshine, we rushed outside for a walk around the surroundings.
After our walk, we drove to Applecross to have dinner at Applecross Inn, which is famous for serving Scotland's best seafood. We drove though the mountains arriving at sunset.
Applecross Inn is a traditional pub serving superb seafood. The seafood chowder was simply divine.
The next morning we woke up to a perfect sunny day and headed out in the car to our next destination: Isle of Skye.
After another gorgeous day we arrived at our destination in Isle of Skye and went to dinner at Three Chimneys. Three Chimneys is famous for its 3 Michelin star restaurant and its rural surroundings. We had a really delicious seafood dinner at the restaurant and a special tour of the kitchen by the celebrity chef Michael Smith.
The following day we started the morning with a run around the hotel and a delicious breakfast overlooking a view of sunbathing seals. It was sad to leave the stunning setting of West Scotland.
We started the journey back home through the sheep congested roads of Skye.
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