Eccles Cakes The Classic British Tea Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
• Dice 1/2 of the chilled butter; rub it into the flour using your hands.
• Add just enough cold water (4-5 tablespoons) to bring it together into a soft dough.
• Cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an oblong approx 20cm x 10cm.
• Cut the remaining chilled butter into thin slices; cover the middle third of the dough with 1/3 of the slices; fold the unbuttered thirds of dough over the buttered third; first one, then the other, making a square.
• Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
• Repeat two more times, turning the block of dough 90 degrees each time and chilling between each rolling.
• Repeat two more times without the butter; chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 240°C /465°F/ gas mark 8.
• Line a sheet with parchment paper.
• Cream together 1 oz soft butter and caster sugar; add currants, candied peel and nutmeg.
• Roll out the pastry until 1/4" thick.
• Cut out 12 x 7cm discs.
• Spoon the filling into the centre of each disc.
• Brush the edges with water, then pull the edges into the centre and pinch them together to seal.
• Turn cakes over; place on the baking tray.
• Push cakes down lightly to slightly flatten them.
• With a sharp knife make three short incisions in the top of each cake.
• Brush tops with a little milk; sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.

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!

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.

Steps:

• Pate Brisee:Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add 1/4 cup ice water in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together. To test, squeeze a small amount together; if it is crumbly, add up to 1/4 cup more ice water, a little at a time. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Filling:In a large heatproof bowl, combine both raisins, figs, and dates. Add boiling water and let stand until softened, about 15 minutes. Strain and discard liquid. In a separate bowl, mix together granulated sugar, flour, salt, and orange zest and juice until combined. Fold in softened fruit. Cover and refrigerate until completely cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch round cutter, cut out rounds (you should have about 7); transfer to prepared sheets. Repeat with remaining disk. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 teaspoon water for egg wash; set aside.
• Spread each round with 1 tablespoon filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush edges with egg wash, then fold to make a half-moon shape and press to seal edges. Repeat process with remaining dough and filling. Refrigerate until chilled, about 20 minutes.
• Using a paring knife, make three diagonal slits across each cake. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely before serving.

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.

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.