New Irish apple oatcakes from award-winning bakery

Ditty's, Northern Ireland's multi-award-winning craft bakery has added to its successful range of oatcakes. The company, headed by Robert Ditty, a former UK Baker of the Year, has launched Irish Apple Oatcakes using rolled oats from county Armagh infused with dry Irish cider from the same county.

The bakery, which is based at Castledawson in county Derry, is using Irish cider from Mac Ivors at Portadown, county Armagh, another award-winning Northern Irish business.

Master baker Robert Ditty, managing director of Ditty's Home Bakery, says: "I've been working on the new Irish apple oatcakes for several years as part of a longstanding focus on other local ingredients. I wanted to create an oatcake using locally sourced apples from Armagh, Northern Ireland's 'Orchard County', famed for its production of Armagh Bramley Apples, which have EU PGI accreditation.

"It's taken time to get the balance and flavour right between our traditional buttermilk and the Irish cider. I believe that we've created a delicious oatcake with a definite Armagh apple flavour.

"We've just launched the product as part of our existing and successful portfolio of handcrafted oatcakes to a select number of customers in Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland. The response has been very positive."

The new oatcakes are produced in 150g packs at around £3.

Robert Ditty, named Baker of the Year in the Bakery Industry Awards in 2011, is a second generation artisan baker who is committed to using local ingredients in his products where possible. He uses local artisan producers such as traditional smoke-houses, organic dairies and local farmers to offer a broad range of speciality biscuits, pastries, breads and savoury foods.

The products combine natural ingredients with traditional baking techniques and time honoured recipes. In particular, Ditty's famous oatcake range is a credit to Robert Ditty's close relationship with producers throughout Ireland and have featured at numerous prestigious events such as the Ryder Cup and Wimbledon as well as being awarded several Great Taste Awards.

The bakery exports products, especially its oatcakes, worldwide and was established in 1963 by Robert Ditty's father. In the 1990s, Robert continued to expand the business focusing on new markets outside Northern Ireland.

As a result, Ditty's has built a significant and growing export clientele who purchase both their sweet and savoury biscuit range.

Mr Ditty is continually working on developing unique products, often through working with other artisan producers to offer a point of taste difference to his customers. Products such as the Gubbeen and smoked oatcakes are testament to these strong relationships with other artisan producers.

Today, Ditty's Bakery employs over 70 people and has won numerous awards for its products including its Christmas mince pies being voted the best in Ireland.