Back in the day when every house had a sewing kit and a container for spare buttons, the first time I became aware of Scottish shortbread was when I questioned my mother about the origins of the pretty tartan tin used to hold our

button supply.

With a red and green plaid band around the rim and a picture of a pretty girl in Highland costume on the lid, the tin was once home to the most delicious gift of shortbread from Edinburgh, she told my sister and me.

“And who ate all the shortbread?” asked my sister, quite miffed that we hadn’t had the joy of sharing the contents, despite the fact it had been received years before either of our conceptions.

Delicious, buttery Scottish shortbread is traditionally given as a gift at Christmas and Hogmanay (Scottish New Year’s Eve), and weddings.

In Shetland it is traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the entrance to her marital home.