I often make these bread rolls (or "stottie cakes" as we know them) for Papa Bear and the cubs to eat with their packed lunches, or with soup for our evening meal. They are especially delicious straight from the oven, but they keep quite well, and if made with fresh yeast (as opposed to the dried sort), I find that they retain a lovely crisp crust in a way that no other home-baked bread I make does. They are very good indeed - and we enjoy them quite frequently, as they are quite simple to make, too!
We come from the North East of England. where stottie cakes (rolls) are still sold in most bakeries, and for us they truly are a "taste of home". I thought I would share with you the recipe and instructions, so that you too can have the chance to taste a little bit of our traditional regional baking! As I say, they are very tasty - but I make them quite small, so they aren't too filling! Well, not if you can manage to only eat one ...
To make them you will need ...
350 g or 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used strong bread flour, as this is what we prefer - it makes a slightly heavier, more "doughy" cake (roll) which is what we are use to).
1 teaspoon salt
half a teaspoon caster sugar
15 g (half a cube) of fresh yeast (you should be able to buy this at your supermarket - if it is not on the shelves, go to where the freshly baked goods counter is, and ask there. Failing that, some smaller bakeries may sell you some - it won't cost much - or you could try health food stores. I have never made these with dried yeast, but I would guess that the equivalent would be half a sachet, or 7.5 g).
1/2 pint or 300 mls warm water
Start by preparing the yeast. It needs to be kept refrigerated, so you may need to remove it up to an hour beforehand, as it will not become active until it is at least at ordinary room temperature. If it is a hot day, it will not need so much time. Place it in a small mixing bowl with the sugar and 3 tablespoons from the 300 mls tepid (baby-bottle warm) water. Leave it to sit in the bowl until it becomes frothy. Here is mine before it became frothy (I forgot to take a photograph afterwards! The froth will look like the bubbles on top of sourdough starter, if you have ever made this - not lots, but just a thin surface covering of tiny bubbles).
(Don't leave the spoon in, while it is becoming frothy!). It may take as little as 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room for your yeast to become "live" and frothy - or it may take a lot longer. This took about 40 minutes as our kitchen wasn't very warm today!
Now measure out the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the salt, stir well to mix. Make a small dip in the centre of the bowl, then add the yeast mixture.
Add the rest of the water, and stir to blend. You are aiming for a stiff dough, but if it is too stiff to move easily add a little more tepid water. Now remove the dough from the bowl, and place on a floured surface (I use a non-stick pastry sheet). Knead well - I set my timer, and knead for 10 minutes. After this, it is ready for rising. Place it back in the bowl you mixed it in, and add a light coating of butter to it, to prevent the surface of the dough from drying out as it rises. Cover the bowl with cling film, and then on top of that a cloth such as a tea towel. Now leave at room temperature until about twice its original size - this will take approximately 1 hour. You can leave for longer at this stage, if you wish, by placing it in a refrigerator, but it will still need an hour at room temperature before it is ready to use. Here is my dough before rising ...
And afterwards ...
Now remove the dough from the bowl, and place back on your floured surface. Flatten with a rolling pin, and divide the dough into 12 equally sized balls (we are going for a "proper" dozen - not a "baker's" dozen!).
Shape them into neat cakes (rolls) with your cupped hands, then place on a greased baking sheet. Press the surface of each cake down so that it is flat (else it will rise too fast in the oven and the top may crack and burn). You do not need to do a second rising with these rolls. This is a picture of mine, ready to go into the oven, at a moderate heat of 375 F/180 C/Gas 5 ...
They will take about 20 mintues to bake in the centre of the oven. The word "stot" in North East English dialect (or, as it is known where we are from, Geordie) means to throw, or bounce - and traditionally, these rolls were baked at the bottom of the oven with the leftover dough from a bread-making session on bake-day. Nowadays we tend to bake them in the centre of the oven, where they cook more evenly, but if you are lucky enough to own a proper range cooker, do try baking them as our old-fashion grandmamas would have done! I am sure they will taste even better cooked that way! Here they are right out of the oven ...
Enjoy!
