General Chat

Hi All, just made my batch of Eccles Cakes. I found them abit fiddly to handle, but will perfect on this. Also need to cut them bigger. They look delicious, and can't wait till they are cold, to have a sample. Will 'road test' the method with mincemeet next time, and see if it is easier than making mince pies at Christmas.
Thanks everyone for your tips.
Julia in Derbyshire

Thanks Liz, and I hope you get the chance to DO IT one day soon.

P xx

I am going to stop reading this thread, it always makes me hungry lol

Deanna, Winter Drawers on dear! Wonder what happened to Aileen who used to use that board name lol?

Pam, I truly have no spare money for trips, if I had I would but I live in hope of the lottery doing me a favour and making me a winner lol
Believe me, I agree with your thoughts on the Do It Now theme but there just isn't the money available.

Will keep dreaming tho and maybe one day.....

I am glad you are able to do the visits you want, hope you can carry on travelling for a long time yet
Lizx

Oh YES Sharron.... delicious.

But as you say, not all of them.
They seem to be made with *leftover cakes*.... where are all the currants?

I used to may cakes which I used to call Sly cakes, but my children called *FLY CAKE* because of all the 'flies' in them. ;-0)

Two layers of pastry with a mixture of raisins and currants in between.

What were they called in your house?
Deanna X

PS. and Liz, you will be shocked to hear that I AM FREEZING.... ha ha ha

I am finally getting round to having a go at making these at the weekend.LOL
Julia in Derbyshire

trust me, cheap frares are out there...I'm on a part pension but I buy early-bird flights with all different carriers. My trip to Europe this year was with Air China - and they were fantastic.
Keep your eyes open and also join a few flight newsletters. In Oz I use :- www.bestflights.com and I keep an eye on Qantas.com - Emirates.com - Singaporeairlines.com - as well as - Malasianairlines.com - Virginatlantic.com - and I'm sure you can think of some others too.

I travel to Erope every year on the cheap - I couldn't do it otherwise. Just set your mind to it, even set a date for it but do it!!

Nobody knows how many tomorrows they have left: my Dad died suddenly at 32 and my daughter at 19, please don't get to the end of your days regretting what you never did!

Love Pam x

Pam, had I the money for the fare I would be off travelling like a shot, so many friends all over the world to visit and also many lovely places to see even if I don't know anyone there.

Lizx

Not so crash hot today though - only 17 with a sneaky breeze but at least the sun's out and the sky's blue!
What more could you ask for in God's private Island? (we call it Australia)

Come aqnd join us Liz, two of my grandparents did and they loved it - the heat of summer and all.

xx

Pam, send me a ticket, I will be with you like a shot lol

Been overcast, rainy and not very warm most of the weekend, especially Sunday, but luckily the sun came out for my son's friend's wedding so they could get lovely pictures for their album.

Lizx

Thanks for that idea and yes I could - but only in summer, it's winter here at the moment remember...

Why don't you come over here if its already cold there -it's summer there but our 20 degrees today in winter was gorgeous. All the washing dry, gardening in the sun and then a book - bliss!!

x

Oh now I am really wishing I had something gooey and nice to eat, and not a cake in the house, o.h. becoming diabetic means I am stricter about what I buy and I didn't inherit my Mum's talent for baking, sadly.

Lizx

Eccles cakes are my favourites but I find the supermarket ones are very dry and I prefer them to be gooey and quite sticky. We are lucky enough to have two bakers in the small town I live in and I have recently discovered that one of them makes them just the way I like them :))

I am not a geat cake eater and I can't bake cakes to save my life so this is a double boost for me.

Libby

From googling:

The Chorley cake (from the town of Chorley in Lancashire) is flatter in appearance, is made with shortcrust pastry rather than flaky pastry and is devoid of sugar topping.


Enjoy what ever version you make, Pam, couldn't you just put them on a flat rock and cook in the sun lol

Lizx

Thinking about these I think my Mum's version were a cross between the two lol I didn't eat a lot of them as a child as I didn't used to like currants then, but don't mind them now.

Thank you every one. It seems as an Australian girl I have had deprived childhood!!

I will remedy this at once - I will cook some soon, maybe tomorrow as at 20 degrees today, (winters day in Sydney!) I will spend my day in the garden or reading outside...gorgeous. But tomorrow when it's only going to be 18, then cooking's the go.

Maybe when I'm in London again next year I will try to buy one.

Thanks again.

P xx
PS: what's a Chorley cake - I know about Chorley wood but not a cake??

Eer, and what about Chorley cakes!? Similar filling but flatter and made with shortcrust pastry. Could just go for one of 'em now with a cuppa!

Aldi have Eccles cakes and they're not the hard-but-not-much-fruit sort.

They are on sale in quite a few shops round here, but homemade will be so much better.

Gwyn

You don't think I went to all that trouble do you?A sheet of frozen puff pastry,thawed out,cut into six,with a dollop of currants in each piece.Folded up,squashed down a bit,turned over,egg washed,bit of sugar on top,voila,that's foreign you know!

I think they should just be currants,I don't like anything else in them.

Morning all, very wet and miserable here in Derbyshire, so it will be indoor activities today, and possibly tomorrow. My house has never looked so clean, as the garden and the allotment usually take priority for me and the OH during the summer months.
I have Bookmarked this, so please Sharron, don't take it off till I have had time to make a batch. LOL
It is that time of year that I am freezing all sorts of veggies (from the allotment), and making them into different dishes also, to get the freezers stocked up for the winter period. So a batch of Eccles Cakes will go down a treat, for pudds. during the cold winter months. That and some of the soup I made a batch of, from a recipe given by our lovely Daff. We don't always need a meat and two veg. meal in the winter, just so long as we make sure we get a hot meal.
Many Thanks
have a lovely day all
Julia in Derbyshire

Just hunted out my recipe for flaky pastry.

1 cup flour and a little salt. 4 ozs butter cut up into it. (I grate it in, but dont freeze the butter first, not a bad idea though). Mix with 1 tsp vinegar and enough milk to make dough. Roll out and fold several times. This gives it extra flakiness. The rest of the making as for Liz's recipe but using the Christmas mince.

Huia.

I love eccles cakes. I make them with flaky pastry and use Christmas mince mix for the filling. I used to make my own filling, but never made enough, or made too much. It is easier to use the mince mix.

When I was in England I bought an eccles cake but was very disappointed. It had a lot of rather fatty pastry, not a patch on my flaky pastry.

Huia.