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Table of Contents Oatmeal cookies originated in Scotland, it is said. A surprising number of these cake recipes can be found in America. And many housewives will tell you they are very very old. Oatmeal cookies are more common now in New England than they are in the South but there was such an interchange of recipes between housewives in New Eng land and their relatives and friends in the Southern states that it is difficult to determine just when some of the famous Scotch recipes found their home in America. The exchange of recipes brought to light interesting stories of how the families came by their cherished formulas for cake baking. For example, the Scotch Bread recipe used in the author's family was sent by a thoughtful Rhode Island housewife to her young kinsman, John Perry, who had married and moved to North Carolina. The recipe came to her through another young kinsman who had been "home" to England and returned to the New World with a Scotch wife. Sift together 1/2 lb. powdered sugar 1 cup butter melted and 11/2 tsp. cinnamon cooled 1/2 tsp. mace 4 cups rolled oats 1/2 lb. currants Roll the rolled oats with a rolling pin until very fine. Add the sugar and mix well. Work in the butter, adding a little water if needed to make a stiff dough. Work in the currants. Roll the dough into a round sheet one inch thick. Cut into fourths, prick with a fork and scallop the edges. Bake at 400° F. until light brown. Sift together 2 cups flour 2 cups rolled oats 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup butter Dissolve m 2/3 cup lard 1 tbsp. hot water 2 tbsp. milk 1 tsp. soda 2 egg yolks unbeaten 2 egg whites beaten stiff 1 lb. raisins 1 tsp. vanilla Cream the butter, lard and sugar together. Add the egg yolks and blend well. Add the milk, vanilla and soda and stir until creamy. Add the raisins and fold in the egg whites. Add the flour and rolled oats and mix quickly and lightly. Drop into small cakes and bake at 450° F. for about ten minutes. This recipe and the one just preceding came from the same New Hampshire housewife. "That is just an oat cake recipe," she said, "that I like specially, because grandmother always made them for us when we went to the farm to visit at Thanksgiving. We ate them warm, and no cake has ever tasted as good since." Sift together 2 cups flour 1 cup lard 1 tsp. soda 2 cups sugar 1 tsp. cloves 1 cup sour milk 1 tsp. cinnamon 2 eggs unbeaten 1 tsp. ginger Mix with 2 cups oatmeal Cream the sugar and lard together. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the milk and flour alternately and blend into a smooth batter. Fill small, well greased moulds half full and bake at 400° F. for about twenty minutes. This is one of the author's old family recipes that came to Virginia from Scotland long before the Revolution, and was as much a part of the family traditions as the clan spirit of loyalty to kinsmen. 10 cups flour sifted 2 cups butter 2 cups sugar 2 cups of sorghum 1 tsp. soda 1 tbsp. vinegar Blend the butter into the flour until the mixture is mealy. Boil the sugar and molasses together. Remove from the fire, add the soda and vinegar, and stir until it foams. Pour the hot mixture into the flour and knead into a smooth dough. Roll medium thin, cut into small squares and bake at 400° F. until light brown. These cakes keep well. No list of Scotch cake recipes would be complete without arrowroot cakes. This is an old recipe, considered choice by both New England and Southern housewives. Sift together 1 lb. arrowroot flour 1 cup butter softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar 6 egg whites beaten stiff 1/2 tsp. almond extract Beat the butter until white and creamy. Add the almond extract. Gradually add the arrowroot. Fold in the egg whites and beat with a flat wire whip for twenty minutes. Spread the batter one inch thick in well buttered baking pans and bake at 350° F. for thirty minutes. Allow to cool before removing the cakes from the pans. Cut into small squares and sprinkle with sugar. This is real Scotch short bread. The usual American recipe calls for too much sugar. Sift together 3/4 lb. flour (3 cups) 1 cup butter medium soft 1/2 lb. rice flour 6 tbsp. sugar Add the flour and sugar alternately to the butter and knead to a smooth dough. Shape into medium thick round cakes the size of a saucer, prick with a fork and flute the edges. Bake at 400° F. about thirty minutes. |
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