Flaky Eccles Cakes
The perfect alternative to Mince Pies this festive season. I adore a Mince Pie, but sometimes you just want something a bit different. After eating my weight in them over the last few weeks, these were a welcome change.
I highly recommend making rough puff pastry for these, it makes such a difference. Although, if you’re short on time, you can always use shop-bought puff pastry. I like to make a bit of a wetter filling and leave it overnight to really mull all the flavours together and plump up the dried fruit. They’re perfect warm with a generous helping of custard or eat them alongside your favourite cheese!
Ingredients - makes 20
Filling:
100g soft light brown sugar
150g dried currants
45g candied mixed peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
a single shot of brandy
1 x orange, juice & zest
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
40g unsalted butter, melted
Rough puff pastry:
175g plain flour
175g cold unsalted butter, 1cm cubes
a pinch of salt
85ml cold water
1 egg white, to glaze
demerara sugar, to sprinkle
Method
The day before
For the filling:
Place all the ingredients into a bowl and stir well. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 24hrs, stirring ocassionally.
For the rough puff pastry:
Place the flour, salt and cold cubed butter into a bowl. Toss the butter to coat in flour before pressing them between your fingertips, working fairly quickly so you don’t warm the ingredients too much. Continue to do so until some of the butter has been broken down but most of it is in bigger squashed pieces. Gradually add in the cold water until your ingredients form a shaggy ball. Don’t overwork it here, you should be able to see large chunks of butter. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to approximately 40x20cm. Fold the bottom third up and the top third on top. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat. You’ve now done two ‘turns’ of your pastry. Wrap and place back into the fridge for 30 minutes. Once chilled, repeat the process again so you have done four turns in total. Wrap and leave in the fridge overnight.
The day of baking
Preheat your oven to 200°C and line two baking trays with parchment. Give your dried fruit mixture a stir and set aside. It should have absorbed all that lovely liquid.
Take your rough puff pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 40x32cm. Cut the dough into 8cm squares (you should have twenty.) Place a spoonful of the filling into the middle of each square and brush the edges of pastry with a little water. Pinch the excess pastry over the filling to form a little parcel, making sure there are no gaps. Turn them over so the seal is underneath. Using lightly floured hands, shape into a round before pressing down the top until you can see a few currants through the pastry. Place onto your baking tray. Cut three slices into the top of each eccles cake. Brush with egg white and sprinkle liberally with demerara sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Eat them warm or they keep well for a few days in an airtight container. Alternatively, they can also be frozen!
