glasgow and edinburgh

glasgow and edinburgh

14 Jan 2026

My good friend Kay and her sidekick Boris live in Glasgow, so whenever I'm in the area I like to visit them. Glasgow isn't that far from Morocco so I thought getting to Glasgow would be a breeze. Unfortunately there were no direct flights to Glasgow at all in october and no daily flights to Edinburgh either. That meant spending a few extra days in Marrakech and a layover at LHR, my least favourite airport in the world, but needs must. 

Autumn in Scotland means one thing, grey skies and rain, so I made sure to pack my rain gear. Kay was on school holidays and she'd planned a full day's adventure. We started the day at the farm where her horse is stabled before a walk at Whitelee Windfarm, accompanied of course by Boris.

If you look very closely you can just see Boris.

Glasgow was so green compared to Morocco. 

After our walk it was time for lunch. We drove to the Heron Farm Shop and Kitchen where I took in the view.

The view was just as beautiful in black and white.

The Heron Kitchen is dog friendly so Boris was able to sit indoors with us while we had our lunch. 

 

We walked around the property which also houses a reception venue, The Heron Byre.

Autumn had definitely arrived in Glasgow.

The Heron Farm Shop had some pretty Christmas gifts and lovely fresh produce.

The next day I caught the train to Edinburgh, which is a 45 minute journey from Glasgow. The return trip cost me $68.00 and I almost choked on my cup of tea. The journey time is much the same as my daily trip to work, which during peak hours costs $10.80 for the round trip. How do the locals afford to travel by train???

I don't always visit Edinburgh when I'm in Scotland so I'd forgotten how crowded it can get.

It's very scenic though, all dressed up in autumnal hues.

I was on a mission though, so I couldn't tarry too long because I had places to see and things to do.

Doing some research before my trip I discovered there were swathes of Edinburgh I'd not visited.

I hoped that the 'off the beaten track' and 'little known by tourists' locations on my agenda were indeed that. They weren't.

I was on my way to the instafamous Lannan Bakery, located in Stockbridge, and walked there via the Water of Leith Walkway. The walkway was pretty busy and I kept my fingers crossed that I was the only person en route to the bakery.

I stopped at the very picturesque Dean Village.

A warning, I did take a few photos while I was there.

I was in Edinburgh in October and found many of the houses decorated for Halloween.

I walked past stone cottages with pretty details.

Not all cities read well in 'black and white'. Edinburgh does.

The colour versions.

Stockbridge is home to many cute shops and restaurants. How had I not been there before?

Could you get any more Scottish than this thistle topped gate?

I found Lannan Bakery and I joined the queue which snaked around the corner.

Was the queue long? Yes it was. Does Lannan employ queue monitors? Yes they do. 

Did I line up for more than an hour? Yes, I did. Did they run out of the pastry I wanted to buy while I waited in the queue. Yes they did.

I pivoted and selected something else. While I was in the queue, I chatted to a lady who commented that the pastries we chose would never be delicious enough to justify the one hour + wait.

I carried my goodies back with me through the back streets of Stockbridge where I found many beautiful stone buildings

and pretty gardens.

I was still on a mission though, to locate Circus Lane, dubbed one of the most beautiful streets in the UK.

I had to wait patiently to get a clear view of the lane and St Stephen's Church. Apparently the tourists staging photoshoots mid-lane drive the local residents barmy.

Circus Lane was built to house the staff working in the mansions located in The Royal Circus.

It's definitely cute.

I still like my black and white version the best.

I had a train to catch so I beetled back to the station for my train to Glasgow.

 

Don't you just love people gamely sitting outside in inclement weather pretending they're enjoying themselves.

Once back in Glasgow the incelement weather really kicked in. We dressed Boris in his rain jacket and braved the elements.

We went to the Burrell Collection but not before we took Boris on a bracing walk in the Pollok Country Park to see the Highland Coos.

We dried off before visiting the Collection then repaired home to finish off our treats from Lannan Bakery.

The next day I said my farewells to both Kay and Boris and boarded a train to London. 

See you all again next week with some images from my time in London.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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posh jam and cream buns

posh jam and cream buns

2 Jun 2025

I saw a photo of these Tulameen raspberry, cardamom & mascarpone splits on the Lannan Bakery's instagram page and I thought they looked so cute, I wanted to create my own version. 

Whilst they might be known as 'splits' in Edinburgh, where I'm from they're known as a jam and cream bun or doughnut depending on whether the buns are baked or fried. When I was little, the absolute best jam and cream doughnuts came from Goldstein's Bakery at the Gold Coast. On Sunday morning my Dad would stand in a queue and would come home with dozens of the doughnuts nestled in a pristine white paper bag. The buns were filled with fresh whipped cream rather than mock cream, which was unusual at the time. I loved those doughnuts, but I haven't lived in QLD for a very long time and its been decades since I last ate a jam and cream bun sitting on the beach at Surfers Paradise with my friend Debra, whilst wearing a teeny tiny bikini. I was only 19.

In recreating the buns I used many sources. The bun dough is from the Seasonal maritozzi recipe in Sift by Nicola Lamb. The shaping method and instructions come from Erin Clarkson aka Cloudy Kitchen and of course the decoration was inspired by Lannan Bakery. The buns looked so fancy my sister declared that they were 'posh' hence the name.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 6-8 buns, adapted from a Nicola Lamb recipe with instructions from Cloudy Kitchen. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20-ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Posh jam and cream buns – makes 6-8 buns 
Preferment
75g whole milk
1 vanilla pod, scraped
4g caster sugar (about 1½ tsp)
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
3g dry yeast (about 1 tsp)
120g strong bread flour

Second dough
50g whole eggs (about 1)
60g whole milk
120g strong bread flour
4g fine salt (about ¾ tsp)
35g caster sugar
45g butter, softened

Glaze 
1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water or 1-2 tbs cream or melted butter

Vanilla whipped cream - enough for 8 buns
300g cream
20g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch salt

To serve
Berry jam 
Icing sugar, to dust
fresh raspberries, halved (optional)

Preferment
Heat the milk, vanilla seeds, sugar and citrus zests until simmering. Cool to around 35-40°C, then add the dry yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes until bubbly.
Stir in the strong bread flour to form a stiff dough, and let it rest for 2 hours, covered, in a warm place. The dough should be risen, very fragrant and airy. You can keep the preferment in the fridge for up to 3 days and use it anytime. If you are using it from cold, it will take longer to reactivate and the other ingredients must be warm to help it along.

To mix the second dough, add the egg and milk to a mixer bowl. Tear up the preferment and add to the bowl, along with the flour, salt and sugar. Mix on a medium speed for 8-10 minutes, until medium gluten development is reached - this is when you can pull on the dough and it stays together but it is still quite fragile. You can take it further than this, but this is the minimum requirement before adding the butter.

Add the soft butter, then mix for a further 5-8 minutes on a medium speed until full gluten development is reached.  Cover the dough and leave to proof for 2 hours or until puffy and somewhat doubled in size. My dough was very sticky so I did 3 sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes and then I placed the dough in the fridge for an overnight rise.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Turn the dough out onto a surface and knead a few times. Divide the dough into 6-8 equal portions, then shape each into a ball.

To shape the buns

Take a ball of dough and flatten slightly, then roll into a sausage about 4” (10cm) long, making sure it is even and the ends are rounded. Place onto the baking sheet. Repeat the shaping with the remaining pieces of dough, spacing the rolls out well on the baking sheet. Cover the baking sheets lightly with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 30 to 45 minutes (will be slightly longer if your dough is cold), or until puffy, and a small indentation is left when poked gently with your finger. (My buns took 1½ hours to proof in my cold kitchen).

While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Brush the buns with the egg wash, melted butter or cream. Bake on the centre rack of the oven for 18 to 20 minutes , rotating the trays half way through, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Filling and assembly
Place the cream, icing sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl. Whip until medium peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.

Cut each bun vertically down the centre, making sure not to cut the whole way through. Open the buns up a bit, then spoon or pipe 1-2 tsps of jam inside. Pipe or spoon the cream filling into the middle of each bun and then pipe blobs of berry jam or place a few halved raspberries onto the cream. Just before serving, dust the buns with icing sugar.

Best served the day that they are made. I froze the leftover buns, defrosted them and filled them to order with jam and cream when the time arose.

Well these were a hit with the neighbours and worth making a batch of rhubarb and raspberry jam and 2 batches of the preferment when the first batch failed to rise. I'm sure I'll be making another batch of these posh jam and cream buns quite soon.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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