Seax
Wica And Lyblac
Honey, Oat and Spiced Cakes
Anglo Saxons & Vikings food
These cakes can be quite hard to make as they are quite crumbly and you may
need to adjust the amounts of ingredients used.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 12-15 minutes
Number of servings: 12 cakes
The Anglo Saxons were farmers, but they traded too and a well off farmer
might have used spices on special occasions. Don’t go mad with them! They
would have been terribly expensive and very precious.
Cinnamon, used here, has been known from remote antiquity, and it was highly
prized amongst ancient nations. It is native to India and was imported to
Egypt from China as early as 2000 BC. Up to the Middle Ages, the source of
cinnamon was a mystery to the Western world. Its origin was possibly kept
secret, so the traders could ensure a monopoly.
It came into Europe through East Africa or Egypt and, until the late 14th
century, it was thought that giant Cinnamon birds collected the cinnamon
sticks from an unknown land where the cinnamon trees grew, and used them to
construct their nests, from which the traders obtained them.
When cooked, these cakes are a little like a crumbly flapjack. (With thanks
to West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village for providing this recipe.)
Ingredients
- 250g oats (use Scottish porridge oats)
- 125g unsalted butter
- 50g chopped dried apricots or dried apples
- 4 large tablespoons runny honey
- 1 level teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Making and cooking it
- Preheat oven to 180C
- In a large saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter and remove from
the heat
- Stir in the oats, dried fruit and honey until well mixed
- Spoon dollops of the mixture onto a well greased baking sheet and
flatten slightly
- Bake in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden
- Gently lift cakes onto a wire rack and leave to cool