The lovely thing about Eccles cakes is that you can eat them whenever you like. They’re delicious for breakfast or with a bit of cheese and some beer for lunch, but my favourite way to eat them is with a lovely cup of tea in the afternoon.
Eccles cakes
Ingredients
- 55g butter, softened
- 55g fine demerara sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 55g currants
- 55g diced apple
- 15ml candied peel
- 7ml stem ginger, chopped
- zest of 1 lemon
- a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 5ml mixed spice
- flour, for dusting
- 375g block chilled frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 large free-range or organic egg white
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 190°C.
Beat your butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Stir in all the rest of the ingredients except the flour for dusting, the puff pastry and the egg white.
On a well-floured clean work surface, roll out your puff pastry until it’s just a little thicker than a pound coin. Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 8 x 12cm squares. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the fruit mixture into the centre of each square. For each square, flatten the 4 corners then gather them up over the filling. Brush the edges with a little water then press down to seal. Bring the other 4 corners into the centre. Turn the cakes over so they’re sitting on the join and gently press down with a rolling pin so they flatten a little. Make 3 cuts into the top of each cake, then brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.
