Thursday 27 March 2014

Foula peat cake

Long time fae I made it, fairly simple though canna mind exact quantities. The normal (peerier size) o’ digestive biscuits brucket doon tae at least half da size o’ your fingernail in a bowel, sprinkle twartree teaspoons o’ cocoa (canna mind how many, try two or three, mix in an see what it looks laek, add more if need be), add a fist full o’ raisins, put a pan on a low heat, add a large tablespoon o’ margerine, a large tablespoon o’ syrup an a sloosh o’ milk, (add milk till it looks enough to bind biscuit mix together), keep stirring in pan to prevent burning, then pour ower mix an steer together well, put greaseproof paper in your baking tray or cake tin, add mixture to about three-quarters inch thick, roll and press doon wi a tumbler on its side, place in a cool place to set then enjoy! If you laek cherries, chop up an add to dry mixture first!
Mam put twartree cherries in da mixture unless she was makin it solely fur me, as I dinna laek dem. It wis her dat christened it peat cake, though it wis aunty Mary wha showed me how tae make it!
tea cakes
Sunday Tea cakes, including Foula Peat Cake (front, right)
For those of you who prefer more accurate measures, below is the recipe that Fiona Sinclair makes. I couldn’t find out where the original recipe came from, possibly a magazine somewhere, Bobby suggests, but it was Isobel who christened it Foula Peat Cake and I can see why. The chocolate squares are crumbly and do resemble peat with the texture of the coconut. Nonetheless, they’re easy to make, nice to eat and they are quite popular with children.
  • Foula Peat Cake
  • A no-bake chocolate pressed cake made with digestive biscuits, dried fruit and coconut.
Prep TimeCook TimePassive Time
15 minutes 5 minutes 120 minutes

Ingredients

  • 250 grams digestive biscuits, broken into small pieces
  • 10 oz mixture of raisins/sultanas/cherries
  • 3 oz dessicated coconut
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 5 oz margarine
  • 2 large tbsp golden syrup

Instructions

  1. Grease a 9" x 13" tin and set aside.
  2. Mix crushed digestive biscuits, dried fruit, coconut and cocoa powder together in a large bowl.
  3. Melt margarine and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat, being careful not to allow it to boil.
  4. Stir melted ingredients into the dry and mix well, ensuring all the crumbs are well coated.
  5. Turn the mixture out into the prepared tin and press down firmly all over with a hand inside a poly bag.
  6. Leave until set before cutting into squares.

Recipe notes

Optional: drizzle the cake with melted chocolate after pressing it down in the tray.
I am indebted to Bobby Gear, Mary Hill and Wendy Gear for all their helpful information in researching this post. Thank you to Fiona Sinclair for the recipe and Becky Johnson for inviting me along to the Bixter Teas!


From A taste of Shetland website

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