Eccles Cakes

Many, many moons ago, in the town of Eccles, Lancashire, an annual party was held to celebrate the construction of the church around which the town had grown. A right old knees up it was, with lots of food, drink, and Eccles cakes. Over time, the parties became a little, well, out of hand, as parties are wont to do sometimes.

Then along came Oliver Cromwell – pious puritan and crown usurper. Rumour has it that he deemed the Eccles’ parties as too pagan and Eccles’ cakes as too rich and sinful. Anyone caught eating one would be, well – thrown in jail!

In 1658 Cromwell died. Three years later, when the royalists returned to power, his corpse was dug up and beheaded. His crime? Gross misconduct against sweet and innocent pastries. Or maybe it was because he’d chopped off a King’s head. Either way, Cromwell got his comeuppance and the Eccles cake was reinstated as the gloriously delicious pastry that it was always destined to be.

Now as it happens, Eccles cakes are not cakes at all, but little rounds of flaky pastry filled with sweetened currants. And while many recipes call for spices or dried citrus fruit, I personally prefer to keep things simple — just currants with a bit of brown sugar and butter.

As far as baking goes, these delicious little morsels are easy to make and can put up with a little heavy handedness quite well, meaning that if  your squares are uneven and your circles aren’t terribly round, it doesn’t matter at all, because Eccles cakes are all about perfection in the eating, not in the making.

ECCLES CAKES

Ingredients

• currants – 1-1/2 cups
• butter – 4 tablespoons
• brown sugar – 1/4 cup
•  salt – a pinch
• puff pastry – half a package (one sheet)
• egg white – one, lightly whipped
• sugar – a bit

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line a cookie sheet with parchment.
2. Put currants, butter and sugar into a medium saucepan and warm gently until the butter and sugar have melted. Let cool slightly.
3. Unfold the puff pastry and roll it to roughly 15″ x 9″ and cut it into squares roughly 3”x 3″.
4. Divide the cooled currants evenly between the pastry squares and fold all corners over forming a circle. Press down firmly to make the pastry stick. Flip over and press gently down again, forming rough edges into a slightly better circle as necessary. Make two little slits in the top of each with a sharp knife.
5. Lightly brush with egg white and sprinkle with a little sugar – it gives the tops a nice little crunch and a touch of sparkle.
6. Bake for 25 minutes. Cakes should be a nice golden brown and smell heavenly.
7. While Eccles cakes can definitely keep for a few days, they are at their most delicious eaten fresh.