English Eccles Cakes Food

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 CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Thoroughly grease a large baking sheet.
• 2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in currants, fruit peel, white sugar, brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly until sugar is dissolved and fruit is coated. Remove from heat.
• 3. Roll out thawed pastry on a clean, lightly-floured surface until it is 1/4-inch thick. Cut out eight circles, each roughly 5 inches in diameter; set aside remaining pastry dough for use in other recipes. Divide currant mixture evenly between circles, then moisten edges of pastries with a little bit of milk, fold together, and pinch to seal.
• 4. Turn pastries upside down onto floured surface and carefully roll out to make a wider and flatter pastry. Be careful not to break the dough.
• 5. Brush cakes with beaten egg, then sprinkle with white sugar. Make three parallel cuts across the top of each cake, then place on greased baking sheet.
• 6. Bake pastries in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and sprinkle with a little more sugar, then serve.

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!

EASY ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• The night before, wrap the butter for the pastry in foil and freeze.
• The following day, tip your flour into a big bowl with 2 pinches of salt. Hold the butter block in the foil (peeling back a little at a time as you need), then coarsely grate straight into the bowl of flour, dipping the end of the butter into the flour every so often - this helps to stop all the butter clumping together. Use a round-bladed palette or cutlery knife, and lightly stir together. Stir in about 125ml cold water to bring the dough together. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• To make the filling, melt the 50g butter, then mix in the muscovado sugar, currants, mixed peel, zest and spices. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
• Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a 20p piece. Use a 15cm cutter to stamp out 6 rounds, re-rolling the trimmings if necessary. Divide the filling equally and place in the middle of each round, then brush the edges with a bit of water. Pull up the edges all around each one and pinch to seal.
• Turn over the cakes so the seam is underneath, and lightly roll with a floured rolling pin to a flat-ish round. Re-shape to a neat round. Whisk the egg white with a fork until frothy. Use a pastry brush to brush it over the tops of the Eccles cakes, then sprinkle heavily with sugar. Slash the top of each cake 2-3 times to allow the steam to escape. Put on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 mins until golden and crisp.

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.

ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• To make the pastry, dice the butter and put it in the freezer to go really hard. Tip flour into the bowl of a food processor with half the butter and pulse to the texture of breadcrumbs. Pour in the lemon juice and 100ml iced water, and pulse to a dough. Tip in the rest of the butter and pulse a few times until the dough is heavily flecked with butter. It is important that you don't overdo this as the flecks of butter are what makes the pastry flaky.
• On a floured surface roll the pastry out to a neat rectangle about 20 x 30cm. Fold the two ends of the pastry into the middle (See picture 1), then fold in half (pic 2). Roll the pastry out again and refold the same way 3 more times resting the pastry for at least 15 mins each time between roll and fold, then leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins before using.
• To make the filling, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Take it off the heat and stir in all the other ingredients until completely mixed, then set aside.
• To make the cakes, roll the pastry out until it's just a little thicker than a £1 coin and cut out 8 rounds about 12cm across. Re-roll the trimming if needed. Place a good heaped tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each round, brush the edges of the rounds with water, then gather the pastry around the filling and squeeze it together (pic 3). Flip them over so the smooth top is upwards and pat them into a smooth round. Flatten each round with a rolling pin to an oval until the fruit just starts to poke through, then place on a baking tray. Cut 2 little slits in each Eccles cakes, brush generously with egg white and sprinkle with the sugar (pic 4).
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 8. Bake the Eccles cakes for 15-20 mins until just past golden brown and sticky. Leave to cool on a rack and enjoy while still warm or cold with a cup of tea. If you prefer, Eccles cakes also go really well served with a wedge of hard, tangy British cheese such as Lancashire or cheddar.

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!