At the North end of Commercial Street in Lerwick, nestled between the high stone walls of the 17th century Fort Charlotte and the Smith & Robertson clothing store, you will find Shetland's only dedicated cake shop: Fine Peerie Cakes.
The first thing you notice upon entering their premises is the wide variety of beautifully presented cakes on offer. Their regular cupcake flavours include chocolate and vanilla, chocolate mint, cream soda, sticky toffee pudding, lemon and coffee. They also make a delectable selection of cakes, tarts, squares and ice cream delights. They serve a savoury lunch menu including quiches, salads, soups and sandwiches, for eat in or take away.
This large selection of tempting bakes makes it very difficult to decide what you want to eat! Guaranteed you will end up standing at the counter for ages trying to decide which gorgeous treat to indulge on - I know I do!
Tea, coffee and hot chocolate are all served in gorgeous vintage china cups and saucers with delicate little teaspoons while children's milk comes in the most adorable miniature old fashioned glass milk bottles. My own children love these perfectly portioned little bottles served with a cupcake piled high with frosting.
Classic crooners play on the radio, adding to the relaxing ambiance of the place. This is a fantastic place to go with a book for a quiet cuppa (their hot chocolate is fantastic!), or to sit outside in the sunshine watching all the high street shoppers walk by.
Sheryl MacLennan has been running this popular cake shop for three years now and this May they were assessed by the Scottish Baking Awards for the Best Bakery category. Several of their bakes were assessed for texture, flavour, appearance, presentation, taste, skill involved and use of ingredients.
Twelve baking establishments in Shetland were assessed, two received certificates and Fine Peerie Cakes was the only one in Shetland, one of six places in Scotland, to make it to the finals. All of their assessed bakes received the highest marks available in each assessment category. The awards will be held this September in Glasgow and we at A Taste of Shetland wish them all the best.
Fine Peerie Cake's own tiffin recipe was one of the assessed bakes: with a biscuit and raisin base topped with a thick layer of creamy caramel and Belgian chocolate this treat is an absolute must-have. They also do a white chocolate version with Maltesers and a gluten free variety.
This tiffin features in their Afternoon Tea. At £8-50 per person you can enjoy a selection of sandwiches, your choice of cupcake from their butter cream selection, brownie and tiffin bites, a small slice of Victoria sponge and a single scone with jam and cream, all served on their vintage tiered cake stands with a pot of tea or coffee.
Their very popular chocolate mud tart was another assessed bake, and they have very kindly shared this recipe with A Taste of Shetland!
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Chocolate Mud Tart by Fine Peerie Cakes
Course: Main
Servings: 12 people
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Sweet Pastry
- Plain flour - 250 grams (sifted)
- Caster sugar - 70 grams
- Shetland Dairies butter - 150 grams
- Egg yolks - 2
For the Filling
- Shetland Dairies Double Cream - 330 ml
- Caster Sugar - 2 tbsp
- Sea Salt - pinch
- Shetland Dairies Butter - 120 grams
- Best Quality Dark Chocolate - 455 grams (broken into pieces)
- White Chocolate - 50 grams (to decorate (optional))
Instructions:
- Place all the pastry ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until just combined. Knead dough lightly to form a ball and allow it to rest in the fridge for one hour, wrapped in cling film.
- When the dough is firm, roll it out so it will fill an 8" loose bottom flan. Bake blind in a preheated oven at 180 C until golden, about 18-20 minutes.
- To make chocolate filling place cream, sugar, salt and butter in a medium sized saucepan and gently heat.
- Just before the mixture comes to a boil take it off the heat and add the dark chocolate. Stir gently until the chocolate has completely melted.
- Pour mixture into the baked flan pastry, smooth over with a palette knife and leave to set preferably overnight.
- If you wish to have the white chocolate decoration, gently melt the white chocolate in a heat proof bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Using a spoon drizzle the melted chocolate in circles over the filling just after you've poured it into the sweet pastry. Use a knife to draw lines through the white chocolate, alternating directions for each line (ie:draw the knife from the outer edge to the centre and then from the centre to the outer edge) to make a pattern and allow to set overnight.
Elizabeth Atia
I am a self taught home cook, feeding my family on the west side of Shetland with as much local produce, flavour and love as I can. I am no expert by any means, but I do enjoy learning and writing about food, flavours and techniques.