Celebrating Burns Night – 25th January 2024
On 25th January we will be celebrating Burns Night.
Burns Night is a festival to celebrate Scotland’s most famous poet, Robert Burns. He produced hundreds of poems, songs and letters, including the traditional New Year’s Eve song, Auld Lang Syne. He was born on 25 January 1759 in the village of Alloway in Scotland.
One of the main ways that Burns Night is celebrated is with a traditional meal. This includes Scottish haggis, served with mashed turnips and mashed potatoes. The traditional puddings enjoyed on Burns Night include shortbread or the creamy dessert, cranachan.
If families are following a traditional evening they will read some of Robert Burns’ poetry, they will play the bagpipes and do some Scottish dancing.
We particularly like the tradition of eating shortbread, so we thought we would share our shortbread recipe with you:
Ingredients are:
55g of caster sugar
180g of plain flour
125g of butter
1. Heat the oven to 190c or gas mark 5.
2. Beat the butter and the sugar together until smooth.
3. Stir in the flour to get a smooth paste.
4. Turn on to a work surface and gently roll out until the paste is 1cm thick.
5. Cut into rounds or fingers and place onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with caster sugar and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.
7. Try not to eat them in one sitting!
