Stottie Cake is made from ordinary white bread dough, but due to the one rise and a slow bake, it creates a chewy bread reminiscent of sour dough, which makes a fabulous vehicle for butter, jam, treacle and cheese.
AD – This article and recipe was previously shared on the Kenwood site, where I shared an old family recipe that used their Kenwood Titanium Chef mixer.
What Are Stotty Cakes?
A rather plain and flat looking disc of bread, and yet to many people in the North East of England the Stotty Bread is an important and potent symbol of their identity and region.
It’s the bread of my childhood, linked forever in my memory to my grandmother’s old stone cottage and warm, happy days sitting around a big old kitchen table with a flickering fire and the wind howling outside.
Stotties, as they are called in the plural, are born of thrift and frugality; at the end of a long day of baking, as most bread was made at home until fairly recently.
Any excess white bread dough that was left over was simply shaped and rolled into a large disc, and thrown on to the bottom of the oven, where it baked in an initial burst of heat before continuing to cook as the oven cooled.
This baking method is what gives the Stotty Cake it’s crusty but soft exterior and yet a rather pleasant chewy crumb, and that unique “Stotty” taste too. A cake it is not, but a simple and homely regional loaf of bread.
My Stotty Cake Recipe
My mother still talks about my grandmother’s Stotty Cakes……she remembers sitting at the kitchen table as a child and tearing chunks from the freshly baked loaf, then spreading butter on to the warm pieces of bread before adding crumbly Cheshire cheese.
My grandmother’s recipe remained a secret for many years after her death, and then one day my mum found an old hand-written recipe in the back of a Be-Ro cookbook, where she had written down the basic principals of how to make a Stotty, and so the secret family recipe was released.
She and I are regular bakers of this secret family recipe now, much to the delight of our families.
How to Serve Stottie Cake
Once you have tasted one of these flat loaves of bread, you will wonder how you managed to live without them.
They maybe be plain to look at with none of the fancy decorations, glazes and cuts that other bread loaves have, but as soon as you tear off a piece of bread, all warm and crusty, and then spread some butter on so it melts into golden pools of saltiness, you will understand the alchemy of this slow-baked bread, as how it is inextricably linked to happy childhood days and simple suppers at an old cottage table.
Also GREAT with French cheese too.
As well as cheese, and jam and treacle (golden syrup), a Stotty Bread is the perfect bread for sandwiches, and if you have ever visited the North East of England, or if you live there, you will know that the classic sandwich of choice made with Stotty Cake is ham and pease pudding.
My grandmother was an excellent pease pudding maker, as is my mum, but I have to admit to resorting to the ready-made tinned version sometimes, when time is short, although it is still delicious when spread onto warm bread with a slice of home-cooked ham.
Baking The Stotty Cake
Our family recipe is always better if made with the remnants of some basic white bread dough, and cooked on the bottom of a hot oven that has been turned off to cool, but you can replicate the method for today with the recipe I am about to share below.
Don’t forget to serve it on a wooden bread board in the middle of the table, with salted butter, cheese, pease pudding and ham too, if you like. Although this bread is perfect all year around, it always seems to taste better when eaten on a cold winter’s evening with the hiss of a log fire and the warm glow of oil lights flickering……or is that just in my memory, maybe.
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Stotty Cake Recipe
Stotty Cake (Stottie Cake)
My Grandmother's recipe for authentic "Stotty Cakes", my grandmother’s recipe remained a secret for many years after her death, and then one day my mum found an old hand-written recipe in the back of a Be-Ro cookbook, where she had written down the principals of how to make a Stotty, and so the secret family recipe was released.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs strong white bread flour (680g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ ounce (15g) fresh yeast (quick action dried yeast can be used, 1 x 7g sachet)
- White pepper, about ¼ of a teaspoon
- ¾ pint (450mls) tepid water
Instructions
1. If using fresh yeast crumble it into a jug and then add the white pepper, sugar and a little tepid water to mix. Place somewhere warm for 10 to 15 minutes so it can start to “work” it is ready to use when it becomes frothy.
2. Put the bread flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast mixture and the remaining water. If using dried yeast, just sprinkle the yeast in to the flour at this stage, with the sugar and white pepper and add the water as before.
3. Mix and then knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. (The word stotty is believed to be derived from the local word of “stotting” which means to bounce, and I remember my grandmother “bouncing” her bread on the kitchen table for ages! So, don’t be shy when kneading.) This bread needs to be well kneaded for at least ten minutes.
4. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set to one side, somewhere warm, to allow the dough to rise. This will take about an hour, and the dough should have doubled in size before you can use it.
5. Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Butter or grease some large baking sheets.
6. Put the dough onto a floured board and divide it into two equal pieces; roll the dough out to make two large flat discs, about 1” (2/5cm) thick and then stick the end of a rolling pin in the middle of the dough to make an indentation. You can also prick the top of the bread with a fork too.
7. Place the Stotty Cakes onto the prepared baking sheets and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, before turning the oven off and leaving them in there for up to half an hour to continue to bake.
8. Serve warm with butter, jam, treacle, honey or cheese, ham and Pease pudding.
Notes
Our family recipe is always better if made with the remnants of some basic white bread dough, and cooked on the bottom of a hot oven that has been turned off to cool.
Nutrition Information
Yield 2 Stotty Cakes Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 1240Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1597mgCarbohydrates 249gFiber 9gSugar 3gProtein 41g
Nicola says
Ooh I love these – I remember having them on holiday as a child! Definitely going to attempt to make them 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth says
Let me know how you get on Nicola!
Made With Pink says
Ive never heard of Stotty Cake / Bread before. It sounds delicious. But what intrigued me more was the tin of Peas Pudding – admittedly I didn’t know that was a real thing (we didn’t have the Stotty Bread or Peas Pudding in Canada). I’m interested to see your recipe for it now and hear more about it!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much – the pease pudding recipe will be on here soon!
Dominic says
mmmm.. a beautiful bread. It looks a little like ciabatta… does it taste similar? I think The Viking’s mum used to make something similar. I will have to make these and try them out on him to see. Lovely recipe for a chilly Saturday xx
Karen Burns-Booth says
Totally different to ciabatta funnily enough Dom – but in the same stable as that type of bread though!
Heidi Roberts says
The simplest recipes are often the tastiest! I love this kind of soft roll with simple butter and ham!
Karen Burns-Booth says
This is great when served with salted butter Heidi.
Tom says
Ham pease pudding and butter, perfect. A good Scottie cake should be able to keep a door open, from what I remember.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Yes! That’s exactly right Tom! 🙂
Lizzy (Good Things) says
Hi Karen, this stottie cake sounds fab! We will be passing through Northumberland later this year! So looking forward to it!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Lizzy – let me know when you are in the UK and in Yorkshire maybe, so we can meet?
Janie says
Never heard of, nor tried, a Stotty before Karen. I love how I learn so much by visiting Lavender & Lovage 🙂
Janie x
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Janie – you should try ir, I’m sure you’d love it!
Corrie says
This sounds so lovely, especially as you can turn the oven off early, as it has been so hot here in Sydney Australia at the moment. The addition of pepper is brilliant. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth says
I am so pleased that you love this family recipe Corrie – I hope you try it soon!
Cate says
Fab, they look so very English I love it!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Cate, hopefully you will try it! Karen
denise@magnoliaverandah says
Love the look (and sound) of these little beauties (pinned)!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much Denise, and Happy New Year too! Karen
Elaine Luff says
Hi Karen Just made the stotty ‘s wonderful i am amazed there wasn’t any “fat” in the recipe
Thank you for your posts the Stotty and my ALL time fav Paddington Bear marmalade are up there in our family best of
TC
Elaine
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much for letting me know Elaine, I’m really pleased that the stotty cake turned out well and I bet it was lush with marmalade! Karen
lori says
I can’t wait to try stotty cake, sounds good with brie. I have eaten A LOT of Pease pudding. In Newfoundland it is part of Sunday dinner almost every Sunday.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I was lucky enough to have pease pudding at a Jiggs Dinner I attended when I was in Newfoundland Lori and it was fabulous! Karen
Wendy ritch says
Scottie cakes they are awesome they give me great memories of living in Ferryhill County Durham and the pease pudding I make still lovely
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Wendy! I am glad to have brought back such happy memories! Karen
Sarah@The View From the Table says
My mum is from Durham and I also have very fond memories of eating stottie cake in my grandma’s house in Bearpark, fire blazing in the tiny living room. I have to make this for my mum. Lovely post.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Sarah – what lovely memories – thanks for sharing them with me! Karen
Torn Clark says
Stottie cake is what I grew up with! Once or twice in a month I always make one at home for the kiddos!
Karen Burns-Booth says
I LOVE them too Torn! I need to make some more this weekend I think!
Acorn says
What a lovely and informative blog about food and your writing! I’m hooked. You must have heard many times how wonderful your blog is and I can’t agree more.
I’ve never made stotties before as didn’t know what they’re like. Your blog has inspired me so will get to work on them shortly.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Acorn
Karen Burns-Booth says
Once again, thanks for your supportive and lovely comments Acorn! I am so pleased you love what I do here, as much as I love writing and sharing my thoughts and recipes with all my readers, Karen
Acorn says
Beautiful and informative writing. An inspiring blog. Will try making these stotties as never knew what they’re like before.
Regards,
Acorn
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much for your lovely comment Acorn! Hope to see you here again, Karen
John says
These are amazing!
We just celebrated St. Patrick’s Day; here in the states that means a boiled corned beef dinner. My wife and I like to cook a bag of pease pudding in the pot with the meat and veg (more like a Newfoundland Jiggs dinner than just corned beef and cabbage). For the next few days this means an abundance of corned beef and pease pudding sandwiches, red flannel hash and Reubens. We usually have corned beef and pease pudding on rye bread, but made your stotties yesterday, and will do so again soon because they’re already gone!
The only change I’ll make is to divide the dough into 6 parts; two pieces were quite large. Six should make each stotty just enough for one person. I’ll say also that the person that thought to add white pepper ought to be given a medal! Very tasty!
Cheers from Michigan, USA
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much for your fabulous comments John and yes, I know all about Jigg’s Dinners as when I was in Newfoundland last year, I enjoyed a traditional Jigg’s Dinner with some lovely Newfoundlander’s in their home….with pease pudding of course!
What a great idea to make 6 individual stotties for tasty corned beef and pease pudding sarnies!
Karen
Deborah says
I found your website recently following a link from the lovely Madaboutmacarons site and have had a drool inducing time deciding which recipe to try first. I’ve never seen a recipe for the stotties I remember from my days working in Newcastle so had to try it. Fabulous! Simple, quick and tasty. I had mine warm from the oven with some butter. Thanks for the memories!
Karen Burns-Booth says
I am SO glad that you enjoyed this recipe Deborah! Thanks so much for letting me know! Karen
Beth says
Thankyou thankyou thankyou!
I’ve just taken my first batch of stotties out of the oven and they are fantastic! I’ve been looking for a recipe for a long time and these are perfect. I live in Ireland now and the first thing I do when I go home is buy a cheese savoury stottie from Greggs – now I can make my own anytime I want – happy days.
Making the stotties reminded me of my Grandma. She was from Chopwell in County Durham and the name locally was yesty cakes (as in yeasty). She refused point blank to call them stotties. she was an incredible cook and I rarely saw her out of the kitchen. Her motto, when it came to food, was better too much than too little
Grandma would make a relish – I think it is traditional, but it might have just been her own – finely sliced lettuce, chopped scallions and mint sauce thinned with vinegar, and sweetened a touch with sugar. She also made the best panackelty and ham broth packed with huge chunks of ham, onions, leeks, carrot and turnip, barley lentils and peas. Served with suet dumplings. Real food that stuck to the ribs and kept you fed for the entire day. I get very cross when I read articles and websites dismissing British food – believe we have a tradition that can give many other countries a run for their money.
Sorry for the ramble down memory lane here and thanks again for the recipe
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Beth – I cannot tell you how much I loved reading your comments – we have so much in common and our grandmothers must have been twins!
My grandparents lived in Newlands near Ebchester and I know Chopwell as it is not that far away…..I remember going to Consett on the Ventura bus to see Mary Poppins!
I LOVE Panackelty, and have my grandmother’s recipe for Panhaggerty on the site here: Pan Haggerty
My mum still makes my grandmother’s ham and pease pudding too, as you say, good hearty food – honest and good and I am also a HUGE supporter of British food too, like you.
I am THRILLED that my recipe for Stotty Cakes was so well received and just like you, I make them to make me feel at home when I’m in France.
My grandmother’s table was also laden with food, nobody left her table with an empty stomach, there were cakes of all types, home made bread, stotties, eggs, homemade relish and jams, home baked ham, butter and a slab of cheese for high tea!
Thanks so much for leaving your memories here and do pop back for more of my grandma’s and mum’s recipes….oh yes, I have a recipe for Cheese Savoury here: Cheese Savoury
Karen
Hilary Andre says
That relish is called Hartlepool salad. My gran used to make it.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I know of a North East relish called Winter Salad, and I’ve made it here on the blog. Interesting to learn there’s also a Hartlepool Relish too, as my grandfather came from Hartlepool! Karen
Kevin says
Hi Karen, just wanted to say thank you for this recipe. I am from the North East of England where I had a great childhood in a house that always smelt of fresh cooking and baking when my brothers and I returned home from school. One of my very favourites was stottie cake filled with pease pudding, home cooked ham and dotted with silver skin onions, fantastic. I followed your recipe today and 3 hours later relived those wonderful childhood memories, my mother would of been so proud of me. Thanks once again and I love reading your blog.
Karen Burns-Booth says
THANK YOU so much Kevin for your kind words and also for letting me know that my (grandmother’s) recipe here was a success too! I grew up the same way, and I think we are lucky to have such happy memories….we may or may not not be rich in goods and possessions, but we both are rich in fabulous memories of our North Eastern childhoods!
Gail says
Hello:
My sister, born in Leeds but now living in California, remembers something called New Cake. This recipe sounds similar and we wonder if it is indeed the same? Have you heard of New Cake?
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Gail, I am sorry, but I have never heard of this before, never, and I also asked friends and family too, sorry!
John Talbot says
its what sunderland people, at least south sunderland called what is universally now called stotties cake, in my day the cakes were about a foot across
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks for replying to this query John – it’s astonishing that I’d never heard of New Cakes, as both my maternal grandparents came from Sunderland! Karen
Chris says
I’m from Gateshead and my Mam and Dad would call these loaves New Cake rather than Stotties as well. I don’t bake much myself but bought a couple of stotties from Greggs following years of regular supermarket sliced loaves and I could not get over how gorgeous it was. I found this page looking to see if stotties were sour dough as it seems so different from regular bread but it appears its the cooking process that gives it the taste and texture. If you’ve never had a stottie I would highly recommend it.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Chris!
We LOVE Stotties here, and I was raised on them!
Karen
Isabel McQueen says
Yes Stotties were also known as new cake
Karen Burns-Booth says
Apparently so! Such fabulous bread cakes
Charles says
This is it. Just as I remember them. Much better than Gregg’s. Thank you so much!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much Charles, I am so pleased that you liked my grandmother’s stotty cake! Karen
David Golledge says
Dont be frightened to give this bread its proper name….Its stotty cyack with a “y”..just as boot would be byut and keel would be kyul as Bede would have written…
Id like to share a memory of my grandmother making this bread ..If you think about it the ingredients werent as refined as they are today…your stotty looks good But ….and this isnt crticism at a stage in the preparation my grand mother used to add lard and the stotties were bigger and flatter…more like Turkish bread and artisan French country bread when ready with a big tray of baked rolled herring (“calla” herring…..sold by a “caller”)…with the stotties cut in strips The oven bottoms were so hot the whole point of the bread had beautiful air pockets which soaked up the herring oil…My grandmother held the stotty like a wagon wheel to her boosom cut the strips and flicked them off to her bairns….when you ate stotties with ham those pockets were filled with pease pudding and butter…..we reach for the Colza and olive oil so easily these days…..
David Golledge says
….Well youve got me going now….Ive just re read and saw a Sunderland reference….Im baking at the moment and my long recall is working overtime…. when you get to the tepid water stage melt in some slivers of lard ….not much …. when you come to knead you should get air pockets more than finer crumb….My nan filled me with stories….In the twenties she ran a long gone bakery shop called Eggleshaws….On football match days the miners walked into Sunderland and bought her bread for their pease pudding and ham…..They squatted in the road on their haunches to eat…as they did at their work in the mines….they usually had bits of hedge flower in their lapels she said….They had her cut the stotties in “soldiers slices”…halved…split in two….Of course the word “stott”….is more to do with hitting….like the rain stotting down ath moment and bouncing off the ground…..when you think about it its the last action you make when you “stott” the bread on the oven bottom to get those air pockets rising
David Golledge says
If there is anyone out there!!!! …Im still having great great results with the fat content BUT…I made a material error in my description of the use of lard DONT melt the lard!….If you want those big gaseous cavities its just slivers of lard total less than an ounce for Karens weight of flour….randomly distriibuted cut into 1/4 inch chunks
Ive found two teaspoons of dry active yeast does the trick…..practically NO kneading…..Hot oven to start bring it down to 220 afterwads……
Herring season just round the corner……
Karen Burns-Booth says
I’m here David! THANK you for your helpful comments, it’s all so subjective sometimes, a recipe, it works in one oven and not another one, and in some temperatures and not others, but thanks for your edits about the lard and the active yeast too, it will be helpful to other readers and potential Stotty Cake cooks! I LOVE herrings, as my dad did too, and I cannot wait for the little “silver darlings”! Karen
David Golledge says
What amazes me really is the power of story telling and information…passed on mainly by “nanas” how she was so motivated to do this goodness knows… ha!.. My nan told me stories about the bakery in Sunderland as though it was the official secrets list…I remember her using a term about “bran “boxings” I now presume this…they must have processed their own flour in those days….she said she seived the flour and sold the what presume was the bran “waste” to the public for rabbit food…Ive just looked up “bran “Boxins” as she called them and there was scientific interest in the 20s …of course war time bread a decade on I think included everything again hence the bad reputation for war time bread
North Shieds fish quay yesterday….herring still a while away….what pity we cant get fresh herring in the winter….crab and cod are wonderful though….
Karen Burns-Booth says
Now that is new to me, I have never heard of “Boxin’s” before, but my mum seems to remember her mum (my Sunderland grandma) using the term in relation to the bits of stuff that were left at the bottom of the flour barrel or tin…….which, makes sense. NO silver darlings yet then David……and, I remember my mum telling me that grandma used to buy fresh lobsters down at Sunderland docks in the 30’s for a few old pence!
David Golledge says
The fish quay in Sunderland is a sad place now with only one wet fish outlet… As I said I soaked up nans stories …its as if she was honour bound to pass on all the information… she reminisced about earlier times …born in 1899! and could remember the call of the horse drawn vendours….theyd dispense herring into your basin for “plenty a penny”… Like something from Roots always repeated when you couldnt get fresh suet or someting else…”and herring used to be plenty a penny…..eeh aye!
Best of luck with the new work…I sent you a couple of pics yesterday hope you got them
Karen Burns-Booth says
David, I apologise for not replying to these 2 comments, somehow I seem to have missed them! THANK you so much for sharing all of these memories and local Stotty Cake baking tips etc……my grandmother was born down in the Sheepfolds, near Sunderland docks, and granddad was a “monkey hanger” (!) but then moved to Sunderland when he was in his teens, so, I am born of Sunderland heritage and I am very proud of it too.
Once again, thanks for sharing your memories and all the tales of the humble stotty above, I have read the comments with great interest and with your permission, I may use these memories in a new post about stotties, along with your recipe that uses lard too! Karen
Karen Burns-Booth says
LOVE the Sunderland dialect, and I can just hear my grandmother talking to me now, in her sing-song Sunderland dialect…….memories!
David Golledge says
Tried to send you a pic of a stottie with blasted cavities…. and some buns but the delivery failed for some reason? wont send to your site?
Random thoughts on Panackelty…always done in the same deep roasting tray as the herring Ha!…. The layers were pretty much as every one described but I remember minced beef…..In Nans house it was called Panackelty with puddings in the Corner “… Yes the last layer were beautifully thinly sliced potatoes…but strategic placement of four suet crusts one to each corner meant you had 8 bits which were touched by the hand of God and were crunchy….
The fire which these were cooked on was sacred by the way! Any body had an exam, test or any other hurdle to get over could apply to Nan to have the poker put in the fire over the time period it took place……some oven Eh?
Stuart Forster says
Layer on the pease pudding and a slice of good ham and a stotty cake sarnie simply can’t be beaten…I wish I could say that about Sunderland AFC.
Mike Hall says
Very nice recipe. I’ve been missing stotties to since moving to Yorkshire a year ago. This is a brilliant base recipe for them, very accessible to all and makes a right good cake.
A tweak for those who may struggle, do not add all of the water, add around half a pint first, or if you must add it all, add an extra two ounces of flour. My reasoning? The bakers of old had mounds of flour to need upon, letting the loaf take as much as it needed, however we rarely do this in home baking. It’s easier to add the extra up front in a kitchen, rather than adding more and more sporadically during kneading on the worktop.
There’s no reason the stottie dough need be any wetter than a standard loaf, it was born of leftover loaf dough tossed into a finishing fire. The secret to its appeal lies in the dying embers of that baker’s fire…
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you so much for your helpful tweak, it’s a handy tip to share, especially as I find that flour varies too, as in liquid absorption. Karen
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Mike, thanks so much for your comments and your handy and very helpful tips too……I am so pleased that my recipe worked for you. Karen
Laura says
Hi
Is it possible to freeze half of the dough to use for another time? We don’t tend to get through both loaves before one goes a bit hard but quite like the idea of batch making!!
Karen Burns-Booth says
I’ve never had to freeze the dough, as this is a simple bread, and usually the two loaves are good for two days, as they aren’t enormous. I’d say bake them both, and then freeze the baked spare loaf.
Michael North says
Karen
I’m 70 now and a widower these past 4 years. I recently got interested in baking, initially with a bread maker but then wanted to move to “proper” bread. Living N Yorks not far from the Durham border i am familiar with stotties and am definitely going to try them, probably today. However I was brought up in a mill town in the old West Riding of Yorkshire. we lived with my Grandma who had been a cook in service, back the I’d never heard of stotties but Gran baked what she called bread cakes which certainly look lie stotties I wonder if you’ve come across this northern crossover.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Michael,
It’s lovely to see you here and I enjoyed reading your comments too…..I know about Bread Cakes, and also Oven Bottom Cakes too, and although they are similar, I always see bread cakes as being thicker and spongier than a Stotty cake, but there are definitively some crossover similarities!
Karen
Shanice says
I done mine with chicken soup and put butter on it . It was amazing
Karen Burns-Booth says
That sounds wonderful Shanice, and makes me hungry all of a sudden now!
Steve says
Thanks for the recipe, Karen! I grew up near Ashington but since I moved away we haven’t been able to get stotties. The bairns and my Uruguayan wife love them. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out…
Karen Burns-Booth says
DO let me know Steve – I hope they are a taste of your childhood! Karen
Steve says
Absolutely delicious! A really authentic taste of times past. The whole family loved them and I was amazed at how easy they were to make. Thanks again, we’ll be making them often I think…
Lucy says
Hi, I’m considering making this and don’t have any yeast. Is it necessary for the flavour or texture of the bread?
Thank you.
Karen Burns-Booth says
You need the yest for the rise, gluten and taste, as well as the texture. Karen
Brittney says
Thank you for your recipe. I’m a southern Ky girl, married to rth English Geordie man. He’s requested these for so long. Now I finally have a recipe to make them!
Karen Burns-Booth says
FABULOUS news Brittney! I hope he likes them when you make them! 🙂 Karen
Peter Falconer says
Allo! I’ve made this to your recipe before and it turned out great- instantly transported to my childhood…
Today I’ve tried it but halved all the quantities, and somehow the dough is astonishingly wet – almost like focaccia! Definitely did half the water… what on earth have I done?!
Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to make two cakes again next time.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Peter, that’s the problem with cutting recipes in half, or increasing them, they sometimes don’t work, as it is more complex than just halving the ingredients. Try cutting back on the water maybe? Karen
Mikey says
Will certainly try your recipe! Since moving out the North East I have to get stottie care packages from home. Haha
Karen Burns-Booth says
I hope you enjoy my Stotty (Stottie) cake recipe, Karen
Graham Mileham says
Just found your recipe for stotties and I took me back to my childhood.Although I live in Lowestoft I am a monkey hanger. I am definitely going to try to bake them. Do you think I can make the dough in a bread maker or is this not a good idea. My mother used to make what she called fadges which I think were similar but not sure. We still visit Stockton where my wife is from and in particular the indoor market where we buy stotties with ham and pease pudding which I would also like to make. I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts, keep the good work up
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Graham
Ah, my paternal grandfather was a monkey hanger from West Hartlepool!
I also have the NE milk Fadge recipe here on Lavender & Lovage too, it’s here: MILK FADGE: EMERGENCY BREAD (NO YEAST) RECIPE
I’ve never made the dough in a bread machine, but you could try it out and then shape and bake by hand as I’ve shared here.
Thank you so much for your kind and supportive comments, please do let me know if you make this in the bread machine.
Karen
Jsn says
I always do the dough for stottie cake in my breadmaker. Turns out great. We love it
Karen Burns-Booth says
I’ve never tried that, good tip thank you!
Alexis says
Just made 2 Stottie cakes.. they turned out so well & were delicious. We live near Newcastle in NSW Australia but are geordies.. Been here 32 years. Was so great to reminisce about stotties filled with sausage & tomato or chip butties made out of stotties.. I made the dough in my bread machine .. such an easy recipe & spot on. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Alexis
I’m so pleased you like my family recipe and it just so happens I’ve been to Newcastle in NSW many years ago when we were visiting Australia!
Karen
Lyra Kelly says
Been inspired to try this recipe after reading L J Ross’s books where one of the characters, Frank, is addicted to stottie cakes. Delicious. Tastes oddly reminiscent of the Shetland bannock. Will be making again.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks for letting me know Lyra, yes, stotty cakes are in the same genre of baking as bannocks and oven bottom muffins etc. Karen
Madelaine Dusseau says
I’m reading the LJ Ross books too and was inspired to try this recipe by that! It is rising now.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I am so pleased! Karen
Vivienne Simmons says
Hello Karen.
Born in Sunderland and living in Canada. I’ve longed for stotties for years and have made a few attempts (not good) at reproducing those I knew back in the 1950s. I remember them as having a chewy crumb and a crisp outside. When I’ve returned to England for visits, I’ve been very disappointed at the fine-crumbed, aeriated, puffed up and fairly tasteless offerings in the shops.
I just made some stotties from a recipe I found on the internet, and they weren’t bad, but the texture wasn’t as I remembered it. I see that your recipe doesn’t include milk, and I’m wondering the milk in the recipe I tried was responsible for the soft, fine crumb. What do you think?
I’m going to try your recipe just as you’ve written it (the pepper has me intrigued). If it’s as wonderful as I’m hoping it will be, I might also make a second batch with the addition of 25 gr. of slivered lard as suggested byDavid Gollege. As both David and I are Mackems, it’s possible that the lard is one of the secrets of the version of my childhood. I’ll let you know how both versions turn out. I’m getting very excited about this now..
Thank you so much for this, and I’d really appreciate your comments about the milk/crumb issue.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Vivienne,
Thank you for your comments, and yes, I think the milk will make for a less chewy and puffy texture.
I’ll be interested to see how the lard works in the stotty too, I’m sure my grandmother used to add lard sometimes.
My grandmother was born in the Sheepfolds in Sunderland, so was a real Mackem lass Karen
Vivienne Simmons says
Hi Karen,
I tried your recipe and am thrilled with the results.
I made half the recipe exactly as per your instructions, and the other half with the addition of 17g lard rubbed into the dry ingredients. I wasn’t sure how much lard to use, so I tried a ratio of 1 lard to 20 flour (17g lard to 340g flour), and it seems to be about right. Here’s what I found:
Both versions were perfect and just as I remember the stotties of the old days.
The results confirmed that my failures have been at least partly due to using recipes containing milk resulting in a texture much too soft for a stottie. Using only water, as per your recipe, resulted in a much more robust texture.
I don’t know if the stotties of my youth contained pepper, but I must say the pepper is a must for me from now on as the small amount you prescribe discretely enhanced the flavour of the bread beautifully.
As I said, I like both the non-lard and the lard versions and would happily eat either, but the one containing the lard was my favourite (thank you David Gollege for the suggestion) as it added just a little more delight to the texture.
I toyed with the idea of using butter rather than lard but, in the interests of authenticity (I imagine that butter would have been a luxury item when families relied on left over dough for their bread), and because I have a dairy-intolerant family member, I decided to stick with the lard and I’m glad I did as it turned out so well.
You’ve no idea how pleased I am that I found your recipe. It’s fifty-plus years since I tasted a proper stottie (miserable imposters since then) and, now, I can have one whenever I wish. I can’t thank you enough.
Karen Burns-Booth says
THANKs so much for these very handy and concise comments Vivienne.
My grandmother would be thrilled that her old recipe is still being made and is still being enjoyed too.
The white pepper really does add that well remembered taste of a proper Stotty I think.
And, you are right about the lard too…..an essential ingredient, or even dripping.
Lovely to meet you here,
Karen
Paul Murray says
This recipe is great, thanks for putting it on to the internet; Greggs never did get back to me.
I am originally from Gateshead and I can only pack so many stotties flying back to Seattle. These turned out great. I wasn’t too sure if the recipe called for UK pints or US pints so pleased you had the equivalent millimetres.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks for letting me know Paul. And, I am glad you used the millimetres, but I always use UK Pints 🙂
Hazel says
It was much delight finding your delightful site. I am such a foodie looking for decent no nonsense recipes. Why would you want to throw this and thatvat a decent joint of beef? Of course a few for natural enhancement, but I want to taste the beef.
Anyhow my family north east and my nanna was a great cook. Her stotty breadvwas the best in the world. A few of us have tried to recreate it, but not quite. I will give yours a try and hoping. The only thing my nanna would was add a bitbof lard, to help it last longer; I think? Appreciate your thoughts. She was batch bake a couple times a week. She’d have them strung out on the indoor clothesline in tea towels cooling.
Thank you