Bread Baking Day #7: Cranberry oatcakes
Petra from Chili & Ciabatta chose flatbreads as theme for the 7th Bread Baking Day. Among others she was thinking of oatcakes. I have to admit, I wouldn't have thought about oatcakes as a flatbread. But it's never to late to learn, there are two kinds of oatcakes, the Scottish oatcake and the Staffordshire oatcake.The Staffordshire oatcakes are soft, flat and round, similar to a pancake. They can be eaten sweet or savoury and usually the filling is rolled up in the oatcake and eaten with your hands. One popular myth says, that this kind of oatcake is a distant cousin of the flat breads/poppadoms of the Asian subcontinent. It is said, that local soldiers liked poppadoms so much that they tried to emulate them on their return to Staffordshire. Of course, they had to use local ingredients and the oatcake was the result!
The Scottish oatcakes are more like biscuits and are widely considered to be the national bread of Scotland. I had them for the first time in Scotland 2005 and I like them with cheese. Originally oatcakes were cooked on a griddle but nowadays a heavy frying pan is used. I baked my
in the oven. Enjoy with cheese and a glass of port or try one of these recipes.
| -========= | REZKONV-Recipe - RezkonvSuite v1.4 |
| Title: | Cranberry oatcakes |
| Categories: | Baking, Biscuits |
| Yield: | 20 Small oatcakes |
Ingredients
| 225 | grams | Medium oatmeal, plus ext for dusting, 8oz | |
| 1/4 | teasp. | Bicarbonate of soda | |
| 1/4 | teasp. | Salt | |
| 25 | grams | Dried, sweetened cranberries, roughly chopped, 1 | |
| -- oz | |||
| 1 | tablesp. | Unsalted butter |
Source
| BBC Good Food Magazine, December 2007 |
| Edited *RK* 02/24/2008 by | |
| Ulrike Westphal |
Directions
1. Heat oven to 180 °C/fan 160 °C/gas 4. Put the oatmeal, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and mix well. Stir in the cranberries. Heat the butter and 150 ml water in a small pan until the butter melts.
2. Make a well in the centre of the oatmeal mix, pour in the liquid and use a palette knife to mix everything together. The mixture will initially seem a bit wet, but the oatmeal will gradually absorb all t liquid to give a soft dough.
3. Lightly dust a clean work surface with oatmeal. Tip out the dough, then roll out to about 5 mm thick. Use a small round or star-shaped cutter to stamp out the oatcakes or use your favourite Christmas shape. Re-roll any trimmings and continue to cut out biscuits. Cut biscuits can be frozen uncooked, for up to a month. Freeze flat before packing into bags or boxes.
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4. Brush off any excess oatmeal, then space the oatcakes over 2 baking sheets. Bake for about 20 mins, carefully turning the oatcakes every 5 mins or so to stop them from steaming and going stodgy. When cooked they should be crisp and lightly golden onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
GIVE IT A TWIST
BLACK PEPPER BITES: For a more savoury oatcake omit the cranberries, then coarsely grind 2 tsp black peppercorns and tip into a fine sieve. Shake and discard any fine dust, then add the remaining coarse grinds to the oatmeal mix Prepare and cook the oatcakes as before. You could also try adding poppy seeds or finely chopped herbs like rosemary and thyme.
:Easy
:Prep Time: 5 min
:Cooking Time: 20 min
:PER SERVING 54 kcalories, protein 1g, carbohydrate; fat 2g, saturated fat 1 g, fibre 1 g, sugar 1g, salt 0.12g
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