Eccles Cakes
Currants in butter and spice inside flaky pastry, slashed three times and baked until the sugar on top caramelises. Lancashire, and they were banned by the Puritans.
Photograph credit: Quiche and eccles cakes by dumbledad · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Three slashes across the top, and they matter — the filling produces a lot of steam and pastry without vents will burst at the seam underneath, emptying itself onto the tray. Chill the filled cakes hard before baking so the pastry layers stay distinct. And the egg white and caster sugar go on together: the white makes the sugar stick and it caramelises into a thin crackling glaze that is half the reason to make them.
Questions About Eccles Cakes
How long does Eccles Cakes take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 50 minutes of standing and chilling, so allow 1 hour 40 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Photograph credit: Quiche and eccles cakes by dumbledad · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Eccles Cakes: Step by Step
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Mix the currants, melted butter, brown sugar, both zests, spices, candied peel and rum. Leave 20 minutes to swell.
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Roll the pastry on a floured surface to 4 mm and cut eight 12 cm rounds.
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Put a heaped spoonful of filling in the centre of each round.
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Gather the pastry up over the filling and pinch it firmly closed, then turn each cake over and flatten gently with a rolling pin until the currants show through.
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Set them on a lined tray and refrigerate 30 minutes.
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Slash each cake three times across the top with a sharp knife.
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Brush with the egg white and scatter generously with caster sugar.
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Bake at 200°C / 390°F fan / 220°C / 430°F / gas 7 for 20 minutes, until deep gold and the sugar has caramelised.
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Cool on a rack — the filling is molten straight from the oven.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Tips That Matter
- Three slashes. Unvented cakes burst at the seam.
- Chill them before baking so the layers stay separate.
- Egg white first, then sugar. It is what gives the crackling glaze.
Pairs Well With
A wedge of Lancashire cheese · Strong tea · Butter, controversially
Keeping and Reheating
In a tin for 3 days. Freeze unbaked for 3 months and bake from frozen.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 1 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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