REQUEST: Oatcakes
Lol Grant
I'm trying to find a recipe for oatcakes. These are about an inch
thick, and two inches round, visibly containing oats and usually bits
of dried fruit. I know there's oats, wheat flour, sugar and some kind
of shortening in them, since I've read an ingredients label, but I'm
unsure about proportions.
I have looked in a number of cookery books. There are plenty of
recipes for oatmeal cookies, but nothing that reliably promises
oatcakes. Does anyone have a recipe for these?
Cheers,
__
Lol
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Crossly the Glad-Eyed Bear
>
>I'm trying to find a recipe for oatcakes. These are about an inch
>thick, and two inches round, visibly containing oats and usually bits
>of dried fruit. I know there's oats, wheat flour, sugar and some kind
>of shortening in them, since I've read an ingredients label, but I'm
>unsure about proportions.
>
>I have looked in a number of cookery books. There are plenty of
>recipes for oatmeal cookies, but nothing that reliably promises
>oatcakes. Does anyone have a recipe for these?
From the ever reliable Mrs Beeton:
Oatcakes (makes approximately 16)
50g bacon fat or dripping
100 g medium oatmeal
1 x 2.5 ml spoon salt
1/2 x 2.5 ml spoon bicarbonate of soda
boiling water
fine oatmeal for rolling out
fat for greasing
Melt the fat and stir in the dry ingredients. Add enough boiling water
to make a stiff paste. Knead well. On a surface dusted with fine
oatmeal, roll out into a round 5mm thick and cut into wedge-shaped
pieces. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake in a warm oven, 160 C,
Gas 3, for 20-30 minutes.
No sugar or fruit here, but I suppose you could add either or both if
you wish.
--
Crossly the Glad-Eyed Bear ek...@netcom.com
Home for the Terminally Infirm, Redwood City, California
Chris Cooke
In article <LOL.92Se...@lol-ss2.cisco.com> l...@cisco.com writes:
>
>I'm trying to find a recipe for oatcakes. These are about an inch
>thick, and two inches round, visibly containing oats and usually bits
>of dried fruit. I know there's oats, wheat flour, sugar and some kind
>of shortening in them, since I've read an ingredients label, but I'm
>unsure about proportions.
From the ever reliable Mrs Beeton:
Oatcakes (makes approximately 16)
This recipe of Mrs Beeton's is for Scottish oatcakes rather than American
oatcakes, I fear. Here an "oatcake" is a very thin crisp dry savoury thing
which you commonly eat with cheese; nothing like a cake at all, not 1" thick,
not sweet, and certainly not the sort of thing you get fruit in. I'd try and
give you a recipe, but I'm afraid that I just have recipes for the Scottish
kind too.
--
-- Chris. c...@dcs.ed.ac.uk (on Janet, c...@uk.ac.ed.dcs)
Lol Grant
I think Chris is correct. Mrs. Beeton's recipe is for scottish oatcakes, which
I am familiar with (I am English myself, as it happens). It has been
surprisingly difficult to turn up a recipe for the kind of oatcakes I'm looking
for, although they are on sale in various places in San Francisco. I'm *still*
looking for such a recipe, by the way...
Jack Campin
> oatcakes, I fear. Here an "oatcake" is a very thin crisp dry savoury thing
> which you commonly eat with cheese; nothing like a cake at all, not 1" thick,
> not sweet, and certainly not the sort of thing you get fruit in. I'd try and
> give you a recipe, but I'm afraid that I just have recipes for the Scottish
> kind too.
A warning on this. Oatcake recipes usually don't work. The techniques
used to produce the commercial brands of Scottish oatcakes are closely
guarded secrets; the labels don't give much away about their exact
composition. Don't expect to be able to reproduce Black's, Garden's,
Stockan's, or even the boring ordinary tartan-packet McVitie or Paterson
oatcakes at home.
I tend to end up with a plateful of crumbly fragments. If anyone has a
proven and reliable technique for getting oatcakes to have the authentic
hardboard-like strength, I'd like to know about it.
--
-- Jack Campin room G092, Computing Science Department, Glasgow University,
17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, Scotland TEL: 041 339 8855 x6854 (work)
INTERNET: ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk or via nsfnet-relay.ac.uk FAX: 041 330 4913
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Leigh Ann Hussey
|> A warning on this. Oatcake recipes usually don't work. The techniques
|> used to produce the commercial brands of Scottish oatcakes are closely
|> guarded secrets; the labels don't give much away about their exact
|> composition. Don't expect to be able to reproduce Black's, Garden's,
|> Stockan's, or even the boring ordinary tartan-packet McVitie or Paterson
|> oatcakes at home.
|>
|> I tend to end up with a plateful of crumbly fragments. If anyone has a
|> proven and reliable technique for getting oatcakes to have the authentic
|> hardboard-like strength, I'd like to know about it.
|> --
Well, I've had quite reasonable success with the following recipe,
adapted by yrs truly from various sources.
OATCAKES
1.5 c whole or steel-cut oats
1.5 T soft butter
1/2 t salt
5-8 T hot water
Pulverize oats in a food processor until mostly powdered, with some
chunks left (it may help to sift as you go along and reprocess the stuff
that won't sift through. It's definitely a good idea to process the
oats a little at a time). Mix salt into the meal, then rub in butter.
Add water 1 T at a time until a smooth but firm paste is formed. Heat
oven to 350F.
Roll the dough out to 1/8" or less, cut into rounds with the floured
rim of a glass or a cookie cutter & place on greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 min, then allow to stand 4-5 min in the turned-off oven
with the door open. Makes ~1 doz.
Good luck!
- Leigh Ann
---------------
Leigh Ann Hussey leig...@sybase.com
"Turkeys, heresy, hops and beer / All came to England in the one year."
What year was it?
Answer: 1520
matth...@cubldr.colorado.edu
> In article <Buo4...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk>, ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>
> Well, I've had quite reasonable success with the following recipe,
> adapted by yrs truly from various sources.
>
> OATCAKES
> 1.5 c whole or steel-cut oats
> 1.5 T soft butter
> 1/2 t salt
> 5-8 T hot water
>
> Pulverize oats in a food processor until mostly powdered, with some
most of recipe deleted...
> - Leigh Ann
Wow! A kindred spirit. I make my oatcakes/bannocks exactly the same way,
they're wonderful. Even my INCREDIBLY PICKY 8-year old daughter likes
them. I arrived at my recipe by adapting a couple of period recipes from
a couple of ancient (circa 1600) recipes while I was active in the SCA.
Nice to meet you!
Kellie Matthews-Simmons
internet::matth...@cubldr.colorado.edu
think I'll go home and make a batch....