Eccles cake filling
- 150g muscovado sugar
- 150g light brown sugar
- 600g currants
- 300g sultanas
- 5g ground cinnamon
- 5g mixed spice
- 300g grated Bramley apple (skin on)
- 2 each grated. Lemon zest
- 2 each grated orange zest
- 2 lapsang souchon tea bags (or earl grey)
- 100ml water
Boil the water and infuse the tea bags for 10 minutes. Remove bags and then mix everything together. Leave to infuse for a few days in a lidded container. Give it a shake each day so that liquid infuses evenly through the fruit. Can be kept in the fridge for several weeks.
Quick flaky pastry – makes about 12 Eccles
- 225g plain flour
- 175g unsalted butter
- Pinch of salt
- Cold water (roughly 150ml)
Place the butter in a freezer for an hour or so. Sieve the flour and the salt then grate the butter into it, covering with the flour as you go to keep the butter strands separated. Make a well in the middle and add the water, stirring with a spoon until it comes together. Finish off with your hand to form a soft dough. Add a little more water if necessary. Cover and chill for 30 mins.
To make the Eccles
- Roll out dough on a floured surface to 2-3mm thick and cut out 10cm discs.
- Place 35g (approx.) of filling into the centre of each. Use a pastry cutter placed upside down to keep filling neat.
- Brush around the filling with a little egg white and then carefully pinch pastry up around the fruit. Then press flat with your fingers and turn over and place onto a lined baking tray.
- Rest in fridge, then make 2 small incisions in the centre of each Eccles. When ready to cook (not too long before) brush with egg white and sprinkle with demerara.
- Bake 180-190c, ESSE dial reading low end of HOT, for about 20 mins
Baking Tip
To achieve the amazingly crunchy finish, just before placing them in the oven, brush the finished cakes with egg white (not egg wash) then sprinkle with a generous quantity of granular demerara sugar.
Recipe by Dominique Ashford, pastry chef.
