Three Ingredient Scottish Shortbread Cookies
This classic Scottish shortbread recipe comes from Anne Will Lamond, Fourpenny House owner Peter Soutowood's grandmother.
Authenticity Meets Sustainability at Fourpenny House Scottish Pub in La Mesa
“Everything I do, I put my heart and soul into,” says Kerry Larceval as she slides loaves of bread into her oven. “I do it as if I were serving it to my family.”
Larceval is the Chef de Partie and head of baking at Fourpenny House, an authentic Scottish pub that opened in the heart of La Mesa Village in spring 2018. Authenticity isn’t just a vital part of the Fourpenny experience — it’s inescapable. Owner Peter Soutowood has deep familial roots to Scotland, and even constructed elements of the restaurant with wood transported from overseas.
But another important aspect that Fourpenny prides itself at is sustainability.
Larceval’s baking responsibilities mainly consist of creating their shortbread, scones for Sunday brunch, and spent grain bread, which is made with grain leftover from the in-house beer brewing system.
“[Using spent grain] was always part of the plan from the beginning,” confirms Larceval. What she’s unable to use, local farmers haul away to use as feed for their livestock (a common practice for breweries). Fourpenny is committed to recycle and resource whenever possible.
“We resource here all the time. Whenever we have veggies cut up, we save that for our stock. Everything is homemade and made from scratch.”
All of the recipes she follows come straight from Soutowood’s personal archive, simply scaled up for production volume.
“The shortbread was his grandmother’s recipe, but the bread and scones were his,” says Larceval. “He spent years perfecting the recipes.” She admits there was an element of trial-and-error when she took over the baking program, “but for the most part everything worked out well!”
Although Fourpenny’s baking portfolio is relatively small, Larceval is hoping to expand it through custom offerings at special events and rotating menu items.
Recently, she’s been experimenting with scones, both savory and sweet, as well as a handful of desserts like a double chocolate cheesecake with shortbread crust.
For now, Larceval bakes around 60 loaves of spent grain bread per week, split between restaurant use and the La Mesa Farmers Market on Friday evenings. But based on demand, she’s ready to turn things up. She dusts her hands off and grins. “I’d love to take it to that next level.”
Visit Fourpenny House
8323 La Mesa Boulevard, La Mesa
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday, 4 pm - midnight; Fridays, 2 pm - midnight; Saturdays, 11 am - midnight; Sundays, 9 am - 9 pm; closed Mondays
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