Tamal Ray’s recipe for eccles cake - MW

When we got out of isolation and returned to the world, I suggested a trip to the quaint Suffolk village in Orford. There's a permanent Richard-Curtis-film-cosiness coming, and its Pump Street Bakery has superb pastries and cakes. I could not stop thinking about their signature cakes: cakes, butter cakes, stuffed fruit and oozing out a delicious crunchy caramel. These are my words of honor, enough to satisfy my craving until my next trip to Suffolk.

Sweet cakes with raisins
I have deviated from the traditional recipe by including prunes, so feel free to swap and swap in your favorite dried fruit. Cherries, apricots and cranberries will all add a bit of sharpness to balance out the sweetness.

Prepare overnight + 20 minutes
Chill 1 hour
Cook for 20 minutes
Made for 10

To fill up
60g of grapes
60g raisins
60g prunes, chopped into raisins
60ml lemon juice
60ml Orange Juice
125g light brown sugar

For cakes flakes
250g bread flour
200g salted butter, frozen
150g cold water

To assemble
1 egg, beat
3-4 tablespoons of demerara sugar

The night before baking, put the fruit in a bowl with the juice. Stir to combine, then cover and leave overnight.

To make a pastry, put the dough in a large mixing bowl, then mash the frozen butter on it before stirring. Gradually add water, stirring as you go until the mixture forms lumps (you may need a little more or a little less water). Bring it together into a dough ball, then cover with clingfilm and refrigerate in the refrigerator for an hour.

To assemble the cake, cover a work surface with flour, then roll the cake up to 3-4mm thick, then cut out the 10cm circle.

Preheat the oven in a hot oven to 210C (fan 200C) / gas 7. Stir the sugar into the fruit mixture, then place a spoonful of piles in the middle of each round. Wet the edges of the pastry with a little water, then bring the edges together from one end to the other (somewhat like a tiny piece of cake) to form an oval. Turn over and place the seam face down on a large baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.

Brush the tops with the beaten egg, then cut three times at each other with a sharp knife. Dust with demerara sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes, until it emerges and has a golden brown color.

MW