As requested...

Black Bun

This is a very traditional Scottish sweetmeat, eaten with a nip or two of whisky at the Hogmanay New Year festivities, and often given to visitors on New Year's Day. It is different from most fruitcakes because it is baked in a pastry case. It should be made several weeks in advance to give it time to mature properly.

Makes 1 cake

For the pastry:
2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp baking powder
cold water

For the filling:
4 cups raisins
3 cups currants
1 cup chopped almonds
1-1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
generous 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp each ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground black pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp brandy
1 egg, beaten, plus extra for glazing
5 tbsp milk

1. First make the pastry. Sift the plain flour into a mixing bowl. Remove the butter from the refrigerator ahead of time and dice it into small cubes. Leave it out of the refrigerator to soften well.
2. Add the cubes of butter to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the baking powder and mix well. Then add small amounts of cold water, blending it in with a fork, until you can handle the mixture and knead it into a stiff dough.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a thin sheet. Grease an 8" loaf tin (pan) and line with the thin sheet of dough. Leave enough to cover the top of the cake.
4. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. For the filling, put all the dry ingredients together in a dry warm bowl, including the ground spices, and cream of tartar. Mix them together with a spoon until they are thoroughly blended.
5. Stir the brandy and egg into the dry filling mixture and add enough milk to moisten the mixture.
6. Put the filling into the prepared tin and cover with the remaining pastry.
7. Prick all over with a fork and brush with egg. Bake in the preheated oven for about 3 hours. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.
I found that the pastry part of the recipe was pretty easy and straightforward. But when mixing the filling, I needed a bit more liquid than they called for. So I upped the brandy and milk until it was just gooey enough to mix, and there was no dry ingredients left. And I really had to pack it into the pastry lining pretty tightly with the back of a spoon to get it to fit (and to eliminate air voids).

I won't know how it came out until New Year's, so I make no guarantees on this recipe yet! Here's a photo of the recipe from the book, with pictures. You can see how the final product should look.