Cake merits a War of the Roses truce

ECCLES cakes may look a bit unassuming on the outside, but that pastry is wonderfully rich and crisp with a sticky, gently spiced fruit filling.

I was talking to someone the other day at work about how 'international' things have become in the baking aisle. Teatime treats were very British not so long ago – these days Italian-style cafes will sell panettone, we have Danish pastries and everywhere we find muffins, cupcakes and cookies sitting alongside our scones.

It's great to have access to such a breadth of flavours, of course, but sadly I do think some traditional teatime treats are getting a bit less visible or even lost these days. Eccles cakes are one of them. They come from the Greater Manchester town of Eccles, and are a small round cake filled with currants and flavoured with citrus and warming spices. Personally I'd call them a pastry rather than a cake.

Historical records suggest no one knows exactly when they were first made, but in 1793 they were being sold in parts of Lancashire. You can still find them around the Greater Manchester area and the north of England, but they do seem to be becoming loss common.

Some people call an Eccles cake a Chorley cake, but for the sake of clarity in case you come across them in the petrol station, they look similar and both come from Lancashire and are filled with currants, but Eccles cakes are made with flaky pastry, whilst Chorley cakes are made using shortcrust pastry and are generally less sweet and thinner – plus they are often served with butter or cheese on top, whereas Eccles cakes are usually served on their own, although cheese does fare well alongside a strong cup of tea in Yorkshire! Sadly this sort of currant sandwich is often purchased plastic-wrapped in a railway station. But freshness is the key, and that means getting the rolling pin out yourself.

My Eccles cakes are delicious and simple to make, with a combination of crisp pastry and sweet fruit filling. Don't let another regional classic suffer a further nail in the coffin. We have no sour relations when it comes to food in Yorkshire – let's put the War of the Roses aside for this one!

RECIPE

ECCLES CAKES

Makes 12

Ingredients:

500g/1lb block ready-made puff pastry

200g/7oz currants or mixed fruits to include peel

Zest and juice of 1 small lemon

Zest and juice of 1 small orange

1 tbsp brandy or orange juice, optional

50g/2oz soft butter

50g/2oz brown sugar

1 teaspoon mixed ground spice

To finish:

1 egg, beaten, or a little milk

2 tbsp brown sugar to sprinkle over

Method:

1. Mix together the dried fruit with the lemon, orange zests and juices and brandy into a mixing bowl and leave for a few hours to soak and soften.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 5 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

3. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy, then stir in the spices and soaked fruits.

4. Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to around the thickness of a pound coin, then cut out as many rounds as you can, using an 11cm/5in plain scone cutter, and fill each round with a heaped tablespoon of filling, brush the edges with egg and fold in the sides; press together to seal in the fruit filling.

5. Now turn the pastry over so the seam is on the bottom, press down and roll out round so that the filling just shows through the pastry, transfer to the baking tray, brush with egg, and sprinkle over a little brown sugar evenly.

6. Make 3 slits in the top of each Eccles cake and bake for around 20 minutes or until well risen and a golden brown colour.