BORED with Christmas pudding, even before the big day?

Not to worry. Here's the latest home-grown alternative. First take some butter. The full-fat kind obviously. Shape it into balls and then stick in the freezer overnight. Done that? Okay.

Once they're frozen dip them in batter which has been soaked in whisky, or, if you'd prefer something a touch classier, Irn Bru. Once they're well coated, drop them into boiling hot oil, because, well, because you're Scottish. Leave them there until they are well and truly fried. Then serve with ice cream (Irn Bru-flavoured of course) and a potential coronary thrombosis over coffee.

It's just possible that, despite all the best efforts of Tom Kitchin, Nick Nairn and Gordon Ramsay, Scottish cuisine doesn't always get taken seriously by gourmands on account of the country's obsession with deep frying things. Fresh fish, pizza, haggis, Mars bars. Eventually they all get battered and fried here. Somewhere no doubt someone is experimenting with fried caviar.

The butterballs, or Braveheart Butterbombs as it says on the menu, are an Edinburgh creation –although there are some suggestions it originally comes from America (not that that's an excuse).

If you are so inclined you can sample them in the Edinburgh restaurant The Fiddler's Elbow. The dish has been devised by the restaurant's head chef Simon Robertson (above right), aided by Paul Fitchie, a former chef with Harvey Nichols."We thought we'd add a bit of fun to our menu of Scottish dishes and it's really got people talking," Robertson said this week. "Some folk are saying it's a heart attack on a plate and, okay, it's not exactly health food but as long as you're not having it every day it shouldn't be any problem." It's a comfort food, he added, and we're all in the mood for comfort food.

Well perhaps. Yes, desserts are on the whole an indulgence, a calorific excess not, you'd imagine, much eaten by top-level athletes (though, who knows, maybe even Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis give in and stuff themselves with sticky toffee pudding over Christmas).

And according to some – well, the chef anyway – the butterbombs are very tasty. "We've been trying it out on volunteers who are loving it. It actually tastes lighter than you'd expect, it's a bit like eating a banana fritter but nicer and obviously a bit naughtier."

Also, to be fair, unlike most fried things on Scottish menus, they are also vegetarian-friendly (vegans admittedly will have problems with them). Even so, fried butterballs? Really?

But maybe we shouldn't beat ourselves up too much. It's not as if this is the only country that majors in food that's bad for you (after all, last time I looked that quite famous fast food chain is not called Kingussie Fried Chicken is it?).

And the story of food in every country is plugged in to issues of economics that shape what we eat as much as a particular penchant for fried food (although in Scotland clearly that is a factor).

That said, though, the simple fact is that frankly it's unlikely you're going to see either Delia Smith or Jamie Oliver turning their hand to deep-fried butterballs any time soon. Now Nigella on the other hand ....

.... deep-fried butterballs