The Great British Eccles Cake Recipes

ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Sprinkle a baking sheet with water.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in currants, mixed peel, demerara sugar and mixed spice. Stir until sugar is dissolved and fruit is well coated. Remove from heat.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 8 (5 inch) circles, using a saucer as a guide. Divide the fruit mixture evenly between the circles. Moisten the edges of the pastry, pull the edges to the center and pinch to seal. Invert filled cakes on the floured surface and roll out gently to make a wider, flatter circle, but do not break the dough.
• Brush each cake with egg white and sprinkle generously with white sugar. Make three parallel cuts across the top of each cake, then place them on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until golden.

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!

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.

ECCLES CAKES - THE CLASSIC BRITISH TEA CAKE!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• To make the filling, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Mix into this the other filling ingredients. Set aside.
• Roll the pastry out to about 1/8 inch thick onto a floured surface. Use a 4" pastry cutter to cut discs of pastry.
• Put a teaspoon of the filling into the middle of one disc.
• Brush half of the edge of this disc with water. Bring up all the sides of the disc to the middle (above the filling), and press tightly to seal.
• Turn the cake over on the work surface, and gently roll it to about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Pat into a rough round shape.
• Repeat for the remaining pastry discs.
• Place disks on a non-stick baking sheet (a greased sheet, or one with parchment paper). Using a sharp knife, make 3 diagonal cuts through the top of each cake. Brush the top of each cake with the egg, and sprinkle a little white sugar over.
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the cake has risen. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
• Serve with your afternoon tea!