There are a few dishes that are very nostalgic for those of us from the North of England. Minced Beef and Dumplings, Pease Pudding and this Stottie. In typical British fashion, this bread comes with a few names: Stottie, Stotty and Stotty Cake. A lot of slang is used in the North East of England and that’s how this bread gets its name. “Geordie” (jór-dee) is the name of the slang spoken in Newcastle. Stottie comes from the slang word to ‘Stot’ or ‘to bounce’. It is said that because they used to make the loaves so heavy and dense, if you drop them they would just bounce! Amazing. This classic recipe is how mothers and grandmothers (including my own) have made Stotties in the North of England for 50 years. The round loaf of bread is typically cut into 4 triangle pieces then sliced in half lengthwise to enjoy simply with butter, as a side dish to a meal or used as the bread in a sandwich.
Stottie Cake History
Originating from Newcastle in the North East of England (not far from my home city) and first published in the Daily Mirror in 1949, with no recipe. They quite simply said: just roll bread dough out until it is 2.5 cm (1-inch) thick, then make a dimple in the center and bake. Clearly they figured it’s that easy to make! And it is. If you’ve ever been to England, you’ve probably seen a bakery chain called ‘Greggs’. They’ve been making Stottie’s for almost 50 years. They stopped in 2015 only to recently return to making and selling Stottie due to popular demand and simply to revive the age old tradition. There are other cities around the U.K. that have similar recipes. They’re called ‘Oven Cakes”, which are bread cakes or oven bottom cakes because they are baked in the lower bottom of the oven. This is a 2 rise (proof) bread. The first rise will double in size. Then the 2nd rise will not yield much volume due to it being rolled out flat, and this is what you want. You don’t want it too risen – as it must keep its distinctive flat shape. This recipe yields 2 large Stotties measuring 8-inches (20 cm) round. You can also make 4 smaller ones.
How do you serve Stottie?
Stottie makes great sandwich bread that is cut into triangles. It’s most popularly served with ham and pease pudding (yellow split pea puree, picture above). Or, you can enjoy the freshly baked bread simply buttered and served on the side of a meal. And one of my favorites is to use it for mopping up the gravy from Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy. A serious treat, right there.
More Traditional British Recipes:
Traditional Scotch Eggs British Cheese and Onion Pasty Traditional British Bread and Butter Pudding British Steak and Ale Pie
- Flour is more accurate when weighed, this is approximately 3 5/8 cups
