Dundee’s celebrated cake is en-route to Brussels as the delicacy is considered for protected status.
MEP for the North East of Scotland, the SNP’s Ian Hudghton, dropped into Broughty Ferry bakers Goodfellow and Steven to pick up some cake for a Scottish tasting party he is hosting in Brussels next week.
The city’s distinctive fruit cake has been put forward to have the same special protected status as Arbroath smokies and Stornoway black pudding.
An application to get Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) status is still at the consultation stage and if granted it will help protect bakers from imitations made elsewhere.
If approved, the change would mean only cakes baked in the area with the correct recipe and decorated with whole almonds could be officially branded as Dundee cake.
Mr Hudghton is taking four of the cakes to an annual Scottish tasting event he hosts at the European Parliament for MEPs to coincide with St Andrews Day.
This year is the first year Dundee cake will be sampled at the party and Mr Hudghton hopes it will delight the taste buds of his fellow MEPs and boost the bid.
Although not directly involved in the bid, Mr Hudghton said he wants to do what he can to promote the claim of Dundee cake.
He said: “Hopefully it will encourage people to think about the value of that kind of designation and appreciate that Dundee cake is a suitable applicant.
“It is a high quality product with a strong geographic place and it is very tasty.
“In the past I have taken various things from traditional shortbread to other bakery products and confectionary but this is the first time that St Andrews Day has coincided with the launch of an application.
“Hopefully it will be something that sticks in their minds.
“I hope the application is successful because then we will be able to protect the uniqueness and quality of our product which will be good for business and employment in Scotland.
“I just wish the process was a little quicker.”