The best Eccles cakes I ever had? That must be on our food trip to Suffolk… We visited the tiny town of Orford, blessed with a couple of exquisite eateries. Among them a lovely coffee shop The Pump Street Bakery serving beautifully crafted flat whites and divine cakes to an army of tourists and locals.
Chris, the funder, is a pensioned IT guy. Having missed a good loaf of bread in the village he settled down to enjoy his retirement he decided to open his own artisan bakery! We were lucky enough to visit this operation, a stone throw from the café. The immaculate attention to detail in the choice of ingredients, recipes and equipment was just inspiring!
Anyway, back in the café the Eccles caught my fancy. Originated from an English town of Eccles (somewhere near Manchester) this small cake is heaven best enjoyed with a cup of tea. Simple flaky pastry filled with currants and topped with sugar… what’s not to like? The one in Pump Street Bakery is worth a sin…
Ingredients:
- 500g ready made puff pastry (or, for even greater results home made rough puff pastry)
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar for sprinkling
- 30g unsalted butter
- 1tbsp mix spice
- 100g brown sugar
- 250g currants
- half of Bramley apple
- Zest of one lemon
- Zest of one orange
- 2tsp brandy
Method:
Peel the apple and cut into 5mm cubes.
Melt the butter with sugar in a small pan. Add cubed apples and continue to heat until apples soften but keep their shape. Remove from heat, add currants, spices and zest. Mix in the brandy and leave to macerate on site for 2 hours.
Roll the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to 3-4mm thickness. Cut out rings with a 10cm cutter. Place a 1.5tbsp of fruit mix in the centre of each ring. Dampen the edges with some water and seal tightly together over the fruit.
Turn the cakes over so the sealed part is underneath the cake. Press gently down against the baking tray to flatten slightly.
Leave the cakes in the fridge to rest for 1h. In the meantime preheat oven to 210deg.
Remove cakes from the fridge. Make 3 slits on the top of each cake and sprinkle some sugar over the top and place in the oven.
Bake for 15-20min or until golden brown and crispy.
