Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

Recipes, travel & adventure from the wild and remote Shetland Islands

A Traditional Cape Breton Oatcakes Recipe

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In collaboration with Lebara.

Cape Breton Oatcakes

‘The Scots’, observed G. Bisset-Smith in 1907, ‘are a notoriously migratory people’.

In the 19th century, nearly three-quarters of emigrant Scots (nearly 900,000 souls) crossed the Atlantic hoping for a better life in the Americas. Until 1847 more Scots went to Canada than anywhere else.

My family history involves quite a bit of travel back and forth across the big pond. Some years ago I went through a scrapbooking phase and I started researching and telling my family history story in a scrapbook. I made five pages, including a folded out handwritten in calligraphy family tree before the cost and time-consuming nature of scrapbooking got the better of me. The photos in this post are some of these pages.

My maternal lineage can be traced back to the Isle of Skye, where the baby Catherine McLeod, born in 1828, boarded a ship destined for Cape Breton Island along with her extended family, enduring an arduous 12-week ocean voyage to the new world.

Skye to Cape Breton Scrapbook Page

1805: Skye to Cape Breton scrapbook page with a handwritten story about the journey and a piece of Cape Breton tartan handwoven by the tartan’s creator Elizabeth Grant.

Skye to Cape Breton Scrapbook Page

The story on this page is a fictitious account of the journey from Skye to Cape Breton, written by my mother in 2006.

It was in Cape Breton where Catherine grew up and married Angus McIntosh, whose parents had also immigrated from Scotland in an earlier wave of migration, and they had children of their own. Descendants of this marriage are joined by ‘home children’, children of the poor or orphans sent by British institutions to be raised in Canada.

In 1740 in Dorset, England, John Hatfield was born and, quite possibly, orphaned at a young age. He went on to become the famous Captain John Hatfield, Loyalist, an officer of the British Army who fought as Captain of the 3rd New Jersey Volunteers in the American Revolution.

Captain John Hatfield Scrapbook Page

Well, we all know how that story ended.

They lost the war and, facing exile, a convoy of 14 ships was loaded with 2000 Loyalists and their families in New York. Hatfield and his wife and three young children set sail in the Spring of 1783 from Staten Island on the Two Sisters – destination – Nova Scotia (New Scotland) in Canada.

Two Sisters Ship Letter

The diary of Mrs. Sarah Frost, a passenger on The Two Sisters, details the experience.

Captain John Hatfield’s great-great-grand-daughter Susan Amelia Pratt married Roderick MacIntosh, Catherine MacLean’s grand-daughter, bringing those two family trees together on Cape Breton Island.

My maternal grandfather was a military man and spent much of his working years traveling, including three years posted in Germany and, during the 2nd World War, a stint in England where he met my grandmother from Worthing, Sussex.

He brought her, as a young bride, back to Canada with him, as you do.

Linlithgow Scrapbook Page

My paternal tree can only be traced as far back as 1698, and for seven generations nearly all the family members were born, and died, in or near Linlithgow, Scotland.

In 1953 my great-grandfather, sculptor Thomas Taylor Bowie, immigrated with his son to Ontario, Canada, sailing on Home Lines Atlantic. The rest of the family followed two years later on Cunard’s Franconia.

Passenger Lists Scrapbook Page

My father, too, was a military man and it was on CFB Chilliwack, British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada where he met my mother. I was born and three years later we moved back to Cape Breton Island where I spent the rest of my childhood and I grew up a Maritime girl.

By the age of 21 I started feeling a wanderlust for the other side of the Atlantic. It took two months for me to get my UK Ancestry Entry Clearance Visa, meaning I could live and work in the UK for 4 years. It was remarkably easy to get – filling out a few forms and providing the appropriate documentation. The most difficult thing was getting my grandmother’s birth certificate from England. Given she had sadly passed away long before I was born, I never knew her and no one had any of her papers.

So it is here I find myself, on a wild, remote island archipelago in the North Atlantic, currently shrouded in summer sea fog, with a family of my own which now includes genealogical branches into Sweden, Norway and Iraq.

I’m writing this, I’m eating oatcakes, and my passport with my Indefinite Leave to Remain Visa is stored safely for future travels. My children, with dual UK-Canadian nationality, are free to move where they like. I wonder if they will return to Canada one day.

Cape Breton Oatcakes

CAPE BRETON OATCAKES

My first job, at the age of 14, was that of a tour guide at the old (by Canadian standards) Intercolonial Railway Museum in my rural village in Cape Breton. We had to show guests around the museum, demonstrate our Morse code skills with the telegraph machine and offer them snacks from the tea room – mainly tea and Cape Breton Oatcakes (and slices of defrosted creampies).

I didn’t bring a recipe for Cape Breton oatcakes with me when I moved back across the pond, but blogger Janine Kennedy, the author of Cooking with Craic, another ex-pat Cape Bretoner living on this side of the pond, did. This is her version of her grandmother’s recipe, but UK-ified using grams, and with my own little tweaks.

There’s a big difference between Scottish and Cape Breton oatcakes. Scottish oatcakes are made with oats, fat, salt and water, whereas Cape Breton oatcakes are loaded with sugar and taste like gorgeous, delicious oaty HobNob biscuits. They are rather moreish if I do say so myself!

Things have changed since I immigrated to Scotland, and although it’s not as easy now to get a visa to come and work in the UK, it is still possible. For those thinking of making the move Lebara, a UK-based telecoms provider, have written A Basic Guide to Getting a UK Work Permit on their community forum. They also have a guide to Working in the UK – What you Need to Know. The Lebara Community has a wealth of information for migrants to the UK. It’s well worth checking them out.

Cape Breton Oatcakes
A Traditional Cape Breton Oatcakes Recipe
Print Recipe
Votes: 2
Rating: 5
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A Cape Breton oatcake recipe originally by Janine at Cooking with Craic. Reproduced with permission.
A Traditional Cape Breton Oatcakes Recipe
Print Recipe
A Cape Breton oatcake recipe originally by Janine at Cooking with Craic. Reproduced with permission.
Servings Prep Time Cook Time
20oatcakes 10minutes 15minutes
Servings Prep Time
20oatcakes 10minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Ingredients
Servings: oatcakes
Units:
Ingredients
Servings: oatcakes
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ 180 C fan and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  2. Measure out porridge oats. I blitzed mine in my food processor for a few minutes for a finer texture. Combine with the flour, sugars and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl.
  3. Add the cold butter, cubed, and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs.
  4. Add 3 tbsp milk and stir with a wooden spoon to combine well. You might need another tablespoonful of milk.
  5. Form mixture into a ball and liberally dust your work surface with flour.
  6. Roll the dough out gently until it is 1/2 thick. Cut with a round cutter or use a knife to cut into squares.
  7. Using a palette knife, carefully transfer the oatcakes to the baking tray.
  8. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until light and golden. Check them after 10 minutes to make sure they're not cooking too quickly.
  9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and then store in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes

Visit www.cookingwithcraic.com for more fantastic Cape Breton recipes!

A Traditional Cape Breton Oatcakes Recipe

Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary received payment for this post. All thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.

Comments

  1. Gosh – reminds me of my grandma – she loved her scotch porridge oats time to show the family what real oat cakes taste like

    Reply

  2. Hi Elizabeth.
    This brings back great memories of staying with my gran as a kid. Oatcakes and welsh cakes were her speciality.
    Oatcakes and a glass of milk.Nothing better.
    I love the thought that has gone in to this post.
    Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply

  8. I prize my tatty, faded “indefinite leave to remain visa stamp in an old passport. Fascinating story, Elizabeth, and a recipe I am bookmarking to make very very soon. Maybe this weekend. I love homemade oatcakes and haven’t come across this kind of recipe before. Thanks for writing this. I am a bit nervous to explore my roots too far. I have Native American blood (Cherokee) so the history there with the European incomers/invaders is a bit tangled and tragic, so I don’t really know how my family fits in with that. I like to think it was a peaceful, loving union.
    kellie@foodtoglow recently posted…Soft Polenta with Broccoli-Blue Cheese Sauce & Griddled Tenderstem®My Profile

    Reply

  10. Thanks for this fascinating post! The Cape Breton oatcakes look delicious. As soon as our heat wave ends and I can turn the oven on again I plan to try them, but with a gluten-free flour instead of regular.
    kristieinbc recently posted…About the BlanketMy Profile

    Reply

  11. Wow your family history sounds so interesting – wouldn’t it be great to have the time and money to keep doing your scrapbooking as the pages you did look wonderful. And those cape breton oatcakes seem such a lovely way to tie together your Scottish and Canadian heritage

    Reply

  12. Wow, how wonderful to know so much about your family history – I know virtually nothing about my father’s side and not a huge amount on my mother’s side either. I do love a good Scottish oatcake, but your sweet Cape Breton ones sound rather good too.
    Choclette recently posted…Afternoon Tea at The AlvertonMy Profile

    Reply

  17. What a wonderful post that brightened my day! I love reading about someone’s family history! Great recipe which is now on my list as Chef Georgio aka hubby was born in Scotland too!

    Reply

  19. What a wonderful post. I giggled when I ready you ONLY able to trace your ancestry back to the 1600’s – I think that’s incredible! The crackers look delicious and I really enjoyed the read.
    Debra @ Bowl Me Over recently posted…Greek SaladMy Profile

    Reply

  21. Oh, that is so interesting Elizabeth!! I love family stories like this!! I’m in a process of turning our family tree into digital / online version… our family branches spread all over the World… on all continents except for Australia, but I may be wrong 😉 Thanks for the link to Lebara community, found lots of useful info there.
    Margot⚓Coffee & Vanilla recently posted…Unique, Hand-crafted Homeware from Uganda in HomeSense & TK Maxx StoresMy Profile

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  28. These oatcakes look fabulous! And, what a fun story and post. I love that you are researching your family!

    Reply

  29. What a great history you have. My grandfather was Scottish and maybe because of my heritage is why I migrated from England to America some years ago. Lovely post.
    Janette@culinaryginger recently posted…Mexican style hot dogsMy Profile

    Reply

  35. There is nothing more delicious than a Cape Breton oat cake! They are home in one yummy bite 🙂 Loved reading about your family history – very cool you have been able to trace your ancestry.

    Reply

  38. This version of oatcakes sound delicious! I love your pictures in this post they’re so pretty and well thought out – I need to take note ha! Great family history, you’ve traced them really far back!

    Reply

  39. How exciting to be discovering your roots! I am 1/8th Scottish and would love to learn more about my heritage.

    Reply

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