Many years ago I came across a recipe for 'Thorcake' in a collection of seasonal English customs. A link with the old faith claimed Jean Harrowven, I felt that such a link would be too good to be true but kept my eyes open for other references to the custom as I continued to research the old festivals. In the meantime I put the recipe to the test. Thorcake is a biscuit made of treacle and oats enriched with spices, it makes a good companion to mead.
More recently I found another reference to Thorcake in 'Twilight of the Celtic Gods' which linked the cakes to the practise of leaving gifts on family graves at Hallowe'en. I decided to publish the recipe in the Autumn issue of Thunder and I searched libraries for information on North England customs to no avail. Then weeks after I had given up I found the Thorcake bible in a London bookshop, it is called 'Traditional Food East and West of the Pennines' and contains an article called 'Prodigal Frugality' by Jennifer Stead. As it turns out the root of the name 'Thor' is the Anglo-Saxon 'theorf' or 'tharf' meaning unleavened.
Tharf cake or thard cake was simple fare, rather dull griddle cakes made of oats and water cooked as a biscuit. At festival times these cakes were sweetened with honey or treacle and spices. Although the plain cakes have died out in Northern England the tradition of cooking the richer cakes to celebrate special occasions has survived. The oldest references to Thorcake suggest a strong connection with Hallowe'en while more recently the cakes have become firmly associated with the 5th November - Guy Fawkes Night. Jennifer Stead considers Thorcake to be the descendant of the Celtic bannock, cooked in honour of Samain.
However these simple griddle cakes are as old as the domestic hearth and would have been eaten by Saxon and Celt alike. It is a obvious step to enrich the cakes to celebrate religious festivals and we can say with some certainty that our heathen ancestors produced very similar biscuits to honour their gods. It may be a co-incidence that the cakes bear a god's name, but by adopting this tradition we are following the ways of our ancestors, being holy and eating good food at the same time!
It is interesting to note the chance connection between the old tharf cakes, the everyday food of North English poorfolk and the reference to Thor eating oats and herrings in the Lay of Harbard (Poetic Edda).
Enough waffle! Here is the recipe.
| 1lb Oatmeal | 1tsp Salt |
| 1lb Plain Flour | 1tsp Ginger |
| 1lb Sugar | 2oz Candied Peel |
| 2tsp Baking Powder | 12oz Butter |
| 1tsp Coriander Seeds | 1lb Treacle |
If your are not feeding a hof full, halve the recipe! If you are you will need a large bowl for mixing! I tend to double the quantity of spices.
Mix up all the ingredients until you have a well mixed dough, squash the mix into thick round biscuits and bake in a moderate oven until golden. You can use biscuit cutters but it is very difficult to cut dough which contains oatmeal, I normally press the dough into the mould rather than stamp designs. Try and find a goat shaped biscuit cutter, they are surprisingly common in cake shops.
'Griddle' cakes can be made for any festival, though this Derbyshire recipe has a warming wintry feel. Try some alternative ingredients more suited to other seasons, fresh herbs, wine, chopped nuts, apples or honey.
But don't forget the mead!
Traditional Food East and West of the Pennines. Edited by C. Anne Wilson. Edinburgh Univ Press 1991.
Twilight of the Celtic Gods. David Clarke & Andy Roberts, Blandford. 1996.
Origins of Feats and Festivals. Jean Harrowgwen. Kaye & Ward Ltd. 1980.