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Catherine or Cattern cakes

Pewter plate of Catherine cakes on wooden surface surrounded by autumn leaves and picture of St Catherine on wheel. For Catherine cakes recipe.

St. Catherine was a virgin princess who refused to marry a pagan Emperor.  As a result she was condemned to be broken on a spiked wheel, hence the Catherine wheel.  Patron of all who use the wheel, including wheelwrights, haberdashers, carters and spinners, she also represents unmarried women (spinsters).  In London and Paris, on St Catherine’s Day (25th November), children went “caterning” for apples and beer, using their Catherine bowl. In England, women paraded the streets during the day, often dressed in men’s clothes.  They sang working songs and visited their neighbours who offered them bread and a drink made of warm beer, eggs and rum. After dark, they set off fireworks, particularly Catherine wheels.  There are various interpretations for Catherine (or Kattern) cakes and modern versions are usually crumbly biscuits.  They are made by rolling an enriched pastry dough and cutting into slices to reveal the swirl which resembles the Catherine Wheel.  However, they were originally a sweetened bread similar to a wig made with butter and caraway seeds.  The following adapted recipe combines the two.

Equipment

  • Weighing scales
  • Measuring jug
  • Roasting tin
  • 2 small saucepans
  • 2 Large mixing bowls
  • Cling film
  • Rolling pin
  • Pastry brush
  • Clean tea cloth
  • Cooling rack
  • Small mixing bowl

Preparation method

  • Grease the roasting tin with butter.
  • Place the milk in the small saucepan and heat to 30C/86F.
  • Transfer to the measuring jug, whisk in the yeast and teaspoon of sugar and leave to stand for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan and allow to cool.
  • Place the flour, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.
  • Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and yeast mixture along with the melted butter.
  • Use your hands to bring everything together to a sticky dough.
  • Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 8 minutes or so until silky and elastic.
  • Wash and dry the mixing bowl and lightly oil before placing the dough in it. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
  • While the dough is rising, place the caraway seeds in a frying pan and dry roast for a few minutes to release the flavour. Take off the heat and set aside.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, knock back, scatter the caraway seeds over it and then lightly knead to incorporate them evenly throughout the dough.
  • Roll out dough into a rectangle, about 30 x 20cm.
  • Melt the butter in a small saucepan and brush over the dough.
  • Scatter with the brown sugar.
  • Tack down the long side of the dough rectangle nearest to you by pressing it down onto the work surface with your thumb.
  • Roll the opposite long side of the dough towards you quite tightly, until the roll is complete and tight. Use a serrated knife to cut into rounds - about 4cm thick.
  • Place the cakes, cut side up, into the greased baking tray leaving about 1cm of space between each one.
  • Cover with the clean tea cloth and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5.
  • When the cakes have risen, place them in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden-brown. Check after 15 minutes or so and cover the buns with foil if they are getting too brown.
  • While the cakes are baking, place the golden syrup in the small saucepan and heat until runny.
  • Remove the cakes from the oven and brush the tops with the melted golden syrup while they are still hot.
  • Scatter with caraway seeds and caster sugar.
  • Allow to cool slightly before transferring them from the tin to a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Note: I prefer to knead by hand, but you may prefer to use a dough hook attachment in a stand mixer.  Just take off a couple of minutes from the recipe’s kneading time if you use one.
Tip: To ensure your cakes are the same size, weigh the dough and divide by the number of pieces required in the recipe.  Weigh each piece to the same weight.
For tips and advice see my guide on making bread.
Similar recipes
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London buns

Tudor

Serves:
10
Prep Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Total Time 5 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 200 ml whole milk
  • 7 g dried yeast
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 60 g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin
  • 450 g strong white bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar

For the filling

  • 25 g unsalted butter, melted
  • 50 g light muscovado sugar
  • 2 tbsp caraway seeds, plus more for scattering

To finish

  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Catherine or Cattern cakes
Serving Size
 
90 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
290
Percent of Daily Value*
Fat
 
7.8
g
12
%
Saturated Fat
 
4.7
g
29
%
Cholesterol
 
20
mg
7
%
Sodium
 
258
mg
11
%
Potassium
 
119
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
 
47
g
16
%
Fiber
 
2.2
g
9
%
Sugar
 
13
g
14
%
Protein
 
7.3
g
15
%
Calcium
 
47
mg
5
%
Iron
 
2.1
mg
12
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Keywords

Baking, Buns, Caraway seeds, St Catherine

© Dr Caroline Gordon 
2026
Illustrations by Chichi Parish
Site by Anselm Eustace