Ingredients
- 6 heaped tablespoons of fine oatmeal
- 3 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ½ pint (10 fl oz) each of milk and water, so a total of one pint of liquid
- Teaspoon of dried yeast, or 14 g (half an ounce) of fresh yeast
Oatcakes (also called Havercakes) were made across Yorkshire -and elsewhere in Northern Britain and the Midlands, particularly Staffordshire – and eaten either as a savoury or as a sweet. They could accompany a main meal – great for mopping up gravy – or form the basis of a meal eaten in the fields or factory, either on its own or used as a wrapping for other food, e.g. cheese or ham.
They were originally cooked on a bakestone and the process involved was skilled and time-consuming, as the ingredients were allowed to ferment before cooking to give the cake its distinctive texture and taste. They were often dried on hanging frames, stored, and eaten later in a ‘hard-tack’ form.
However, ‘Mrs Appleby’ in her ‘More Yorkshire Recipes’ (1967), offers a much quicker way of making these, which, when freshly made, are delicious pancake-like treats, often served with jam or honey.
Method
- Mix together the dry ingredients
- Add warm (not hot) water and milk and mix well
- Crumble in the fresh yeast and let the mixture stand in a warm place for at least 20 minutes.
- If using dried yeast, mix well with the warm milk and water before adding to the dry ingredients
- Cook on both sides in a greased frying pan until both sides are brown.
See also the article ‘What’s Happened to Havercakes?‘ https://traditional-yorkshire-recipes.info/havercakes/ at
6 Responses to Oatcakes (or Havercakes)
does anyone still make these in Yorkshire? I am from North Staffordshire and make my own.
Just started making them as have been diagnosed with coeliac disease so not allowed gluten. They’re fantastic.
Hi Jon, do you use gluten free flour in these?
I think this is a pikelet recipe rather than Havercakes, weren’t havercakes extremely thin, cooked on a special stone and dried out? They were either eaten as they were as a dried out biscuit type thing or crumbled up in stew or soup.
Pikelets are similar to crumpets in their structure (see Pikelet recipe on this site). The article by historian Robin Longbottom, will I think go some way to answering your question, John. https://traditional-yorkshire-recipes.info/havercakes/
These are the oatcakes I remember from my childhood, standing in the oatcake shop watching the guy making hundreds of them. The shop was in Hillsborough, Sheffield, in the 1950s. They were more substantial than the Derbyshire type.