Eccles Cakes The Classic British Tea Cake Recipes

ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• PASTRY: Mix together flour and salt.
• Cut in lard and butter.
• In measuring cup, mix egg and lemon juice; add cold water to make 1/2 cup liquid; beat with fork.
• Stirring with fork, add enough liquid to flour mixture to make soft, slightly sticky dough.
• Wrap and chill for several hours.
• FILLING: Cover currants with boiling water, let stand 5 minutes, then DRAIN.
• Cream butter with sugar; stir in spices and currants.
• Roll out pastry to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 3 1/2 inch rounds.
• Place spoonful of filling (about 2 tsp.) in centre of each, bring up edges of pastry and pinch well to seal.
• Turn over and flatten gently with a rolling pin to make round cakes.
• (Currants should just show below surface.) Place on ungreased baking sheet; brush with egg, and sprinkle with sugar.
• Cut 2 slashes in top of each.
• Bake in 425 F.
• oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
• Makes about 20 pastries.
• Canadian Living Cookbook.

ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• Place currants, sultanas, white sugar, brown sugar, butter, water, marmalade, mixed spice,and golden syrup in a saucepan.
• Gently bring to the boil, simmer for a minute, stirring constantly.
• Set aside to cool.
• Roll out the pastry; cut into squares about 4 inches square.
• Place a heaped dessert spoon of the mixture in the middle.
• Fold pastry over and gently flatten so that they are about half an inch thick.
• Slash gently 2 or 3 times with a knife.
• Bake on a lined tray in a hot oven for about 10 minutes until they are golden brown.

THE GREAT BRITISH ECCLES CAKE

Steps:

• Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
• Dice 1/2 of the chilled butter; rub it into the flour using your hands.
• Add just enough cold water (4-5 tablespoons) to bring it together into a soft dough.
• Cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an oblong approx 20cm x 10cm.
• Cut the remaining chilled butter into thin slices; cover the middle third of the dough with 1/3 of the slices; fold the unbuttered thirds of dough over the buttered third; first one, then the other, making a square.
• Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
• Repeat two more times, turning the block of dough 90 degrees each time and chilling between each rolling.
• Repeat two more times without the butter; chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 240°C /465°F/ gas mark 8.
• Line a sheet with parchment paper.
• Cream together 1 oz soft butter and caster sugar; add currants, candied peel and nutmeg.
• Roll out the pastry until 1/4" thick.
• Cut out 12 x 7cm discs.
• Spoon the filling into the centre of each disc.
• Brush the edges with water, then pull the edges into the centre and pinch them together to seal.
• Turn cakes over; place on the baking tray.
• Push cakes down lightly to slightly flatten them.
• With a sharp knife make three short incisions in the top of each cake.
• Brush tops with a little milk; sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.

ENGLISH ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• Roll out puff pastry on lightly floured board.
• Cut dough into 24, 3-inch rounds.
• In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
• Mix in currants and spices.
• Place 2 tsp of mixture on each circle.
• Brush edges of each circle with milk to "glue" the top to the bottom.
• Place another round of dough on top pressing the edges firmly all around.
• Brush tops of each cake with milk and sprinkle on a bit of sugar.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake until brown and crispy (12- 15 minutes).
• Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
• Makes 12 Eccles cakes.
• Enjoy!

YOU'LL NEVER GO BACK TO STORE BOUGHT' ENGLISH ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/425°F.
• Cut the pastry into rounds approx 4 inches in diameter.
• Cream the butter and sugar together, add the currants, lemon zest and spices.
• Add spoonfuls of the mixture to the centre of each pastry round.
• Gather the edges of each round to form a sealed ball, and with the smooth side uppermost, flatten onto a greased baking sheet.
• Cut 2 slits in the top of each cake with a sharp knife, brush with water (not milk or egg) and dust with caster sugar.
• Bake until golden brown for approx 20 minutes.
• Allow to cool for around 20 minutes before serving whilst still warm-ish or wait until completely cooled.
• To die for!