OatcakeMan
Continuing on with the theme of oats, I thought I would share with you something else I made recently, involving the use of lots of delicious nutty oatmeal.
Most of us probably know about Anpanman, the kids’ superhero whose head is made of a bean jam bun called anpan. Rather bizzarely, Anpanman is capable of feeding the hungry by giving them bits of his head. His head is then restored by Uncle Jam, his creator. Anpanman battles for justice, with a collection of friends – one of whom is Shokupanman whose head is a slice of white bread.
I’m betting though that you probably haven’t heard of OatcakeMan. Until now. OatcakeMan was baked one fine, but rather overcast weekend, and is a fusion of Scottish oatcake and Japanese Anpanman. I was whipping up a batch of oatcakes, and inspired by Duchy Originals Oatcakes with their signature stamp on each biscuit, I decided I would like to do something similar. The only stamps I could think of to use, were some plastic Anpanman bread stamps I bought when we were in Tokyo last October. The stamps are actually intended for using to mark Anpanman images onto pieces of white bread, but I never got round to trying it out. Anyway, oatcakes just seem so much tastier.
The resulting stamp on each oatcake worked quite well; the pattern remaining very defined even after baking. I’m thinking next time I could try something else, depending on what rubber stamps I could get hold of. Return to Sender, Property Of, Faxed … ? It could be Oatcakes : The Office Edition 😀
Meanwhile, OatcakeMan fights hunger, one decent piece of cheese at a time.
Oatcakes :
(from The Art of Handmade Bread, by Dan Lepard)
250g fine oatmeal
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
20g unsalted butter or lard
100g water at 20’C
additional oatmeal for rolling
In a bowl, combine the oatmeal with the salt and baking soda. Blend the butter or lard through the dry ingredients until all the lumps have disappeared. Add the water and mix until you have a soft dough.
Sprinkle a little fine oatmeal on the work-surface and place the dough on top of it. Sprinkle more oatmeal over the dough. Using the heel of your hand, bash the dough out to flatten it, then sprinkle more oatmeal on the top and underneath. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a scant 1/4in thick. While doing this, constantly run a spatula underneath to make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the work-surface. Cut out discs using a 3in cutter and put them onto a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 204’C. Bake in the center of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the oatcakes are tinged with brown around the circumference. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
(Tip: Ideally, roll the dough out immediately, but if you can’t you will find that the dough hardens. This isn’t a problem; simply add a little more water to the dough and work this through with your fingertips until it is evenly combined, then roll it out).
Mir said,
April 14, 2008 @ 12:29 am
Entered, filed… wow there’s a whole untapped market right there 🙂 These look higly edible btw
Scott at Realepicurean said,
April 14, 2008 @ 5:16 am
Oats are very good for you. Quite a common breakfast in my house – but always with milk, never with water!
Y said,
April 14, 2008 @ 7:25 am
Mir: Oh they are, they really are! I don’t usually eat too much of what I make, but this time I nearly polished them all off (with cheese), save for a few pieces that B managed to get to first 🙂
Scott: I hear ya, but unfortunately, I have an aversion to milk in it’s pure form (yogurt, ice cream, butter etc, I don’t mind) .. I think it doesn’t sit well in my stomach or something, so it’s always water with oats, for me. Even when I went through a stage of eating cereals for breakfast, I used to have them with water – sounds disgusting, I know.. that’s why I stick to toast these days.
Belle said,
April 14, 2008 @ 10:25 am
I’m fascinated by your idea of stamping a design onto the biscuits because I have a massive range of stamps that need to be put to some use. What type of texture do the oatcakes have that can hold the stamped pattern?
giz said,
April 14, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Oatcake Man needs a cape so he can be a superhero 🙂
Y said,
April 14, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
Belle: The oatcake dough is dryish and firm and when baked, the biscuits are.. um.. dryish and firm. Sort of like most oatcakes you might have tasted before. The kind of thing that goes perfectly with cheese.. don’t know if that answers your question or not. The texture is sort of like a digestive biscuit..?
What kind of stamps have you got? I’m intrigued 🙂
Giz: An edible cape.. I like that! 🙂
Lorraine E said,
April 14, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
Mmm I love Oatcakes with brie and a slice of apple or apple jam! Bliss! I agree, they’re a bit dry otherwise but they’re a great carrier for other food. Making it yourself is a great idea, I love the stamp on top. And also much more cost effective than Organic Duchy of Cornwall oatcakes which are lovely but exxy.
Aran said,
April 17, 2008 @ 4:12 am
I wish your photos were a little larger because I think those look amazing! You have been quite busy baking, haven’t you? Great job1
Y said,
April 17, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
Hi Aran! Someone has mentioned that before too. Can no one be bothered to click on the small pictures to see the larger sized version? Anyway, thanks for the comment, and I really should get that changed at some point! 🙂
W said,
August 7, 2008 @ 10:23 am
I showed the pictures to my Japanese co-worker and she literally jumped up and down saying “kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii” {cute} and then she was getting hungry and wanted to sample both Oakcake-man and shOAKupanman-sama. <3