Northumberland Baked Goods

Northumberland has some traditional baked goods that I haven't seen before. As I mentioned before, we bought some North East classics at Trotters Family Bakers, the most popular bakery of Seahouses on our last day of the trip. 

One was Singing Hinny. National Trust has a clear explanation about the cute name - "Singing Hinnies were so called as, when the fat melts during baking; it sizzled on the hot gridle and was thought to be singing. Hinnie comes from the northern pronunciation of the word "honey" and is used as a term of endearment. The story goes that its name came from a north country housewife who was busy baking this scone for tea and on repeatedly being asked by her children if it was ready, her final reply was "No it's still singing hinnie!" 

Our Singing Hinny looked like Welsh cakes and its taste and texture were also just like Welsh cakes although it wasn't as sweet as Welsh cakes. The size was however different. It was giant! Perhaps Trotters Family Bakers' Singing Hinnies are larger than normal. 

Another was Stottie. The package said "Large White Stottie." So, this was certainly a large version, but Stottie is traditionally larger than a roll. The name comes from "stott" in Georgie (a native of Newcastle upon Tyne) dialect for ‘to bounce’. It is said that cooks would "stott" their bread on the kitchen floor to check its texture. Also, stottie was traditionally made from leftover dough and baked on the “sole”, the coolest part of a coal-fired oven, which took longer baking time and developed chewiness. Although I didn't find any chewiness. Like one we tried at Bistro 23 in Alnmouth, it was a very light, crumbly, plain white bread. Maybe the modern Stottie is baked quickly at higher position in the oven. 

The last was Sly Cake. It was a shortcrust pastry filled with fruits (currants and raisins, I guess) . It was just like a square version of Eccles Cake. Apparently Sly Cake has got its name because its plain uninteresting outside hides its rich filling inside. Well, a square piece cut out from a sheet cake can't really cover the filling, I thought. 

All three were very nice to try!