MATTY'S CRACKIN' CRANACHAN

Burn's night happened last month (as it does every year of course!) and this year I was inspired to rustle up a dish to honor this annual celebration. Scouring the internet I came across a pudding known as a Cranachan. This traditional Scottish dessert consists of crumbled up honey roasted oats, fresh raspberries and oodles of whipped whiskey cream. Well, I knew that was the dish I had to make, it just sounded so decedent and naughty. Without wanting to face the wrath of the Scots, I've added my own little twist by adding some seeds to the oats and a mixed fruit medley to the base. I think it's proper bonnie like! 

LA BARANTINE EDINBURGH (MATTYB RECCOMMENDS)

With so many tea and cake shops, bakeries and cafe competing with other it is hard to really stand out from the crowd especially when you have opened up in a foodie hotspot such as Edinburgh. Place an Eiffel tower in your window decorated with macarons on the other hand and you are onto a winner! La Barantine's beautiful looking French display is what caught my eye as we wandered around Edinburgh's Grassmarket area one delightfully sunny Wednesday afternoon. So much so that when it came to thinking about somewhere to grab a quick nibble and a pot of tea to refresh our tired little legs, I purposely went back there to go and check them out. The big question was this; is the display just for show or do the goods in there deliver as well?

LOVECRUMBS EDINBURGH (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

After a long day of sightseeing in Edinburgh it was time for us to hunt out a spot of lunch and what could be better than a spot of afternoon tea. Close to our hotel we had spotted Lovecrumbs, a delightful looking cake shop and decided to pop in for a little nibble. It was still quite busy when we walked into Lovecrumbs at around 3pm. Located on West Port, close to the Grassmarket area of the city centre, it seems to be attracting quite an eclectic crowd of young and old, students, families, tourists and locals.

THE MUSSEL AND STEAK BAR EDINBURGH (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

When you're planning a trip to a new city you can spend a long time looking on the internet for fabulous places to eat but sometimes you just stumble across places when you're walking around and that is what happened on a recent trip we took to Edinburgh. Hunting out a place for a birthday dinner, we saw The Mussel and Steak Bar and the menu looked really tasty and special and so later that evening we walked from our hotel with empty bellies and high expectations ready for some of Scotland's finest seafood.