Eccles Cakes

Directions

• Dice the butter and put it in the freezer until very hard.
• Tip flour into a food processor with half the butter and pulse to the texture of breadcrumbs.
• Pour in the lemon juice and 100ml iced water and pulse to a dough.
• Tip in the rest of the butter and pulse a few times until the dough is heavily flecked with butter, taking care not to overwork.
• On a floured surface roll the pastry to a rectangle about 20x30cm then fold both ends into the middle and fold in half.
• Roll out and refold the same way three more times, resting at least 15 minutes between rounds, then chill at least 30 minutes.
• Melt the 25g butter in a large saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in currants, mixed peel, muscovado sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and lemon zest until completely mixed; set aside.
• Roll the pastry to just thicker than a £1 coin and cut eight 12cm rounds; re-roll trimmings as needed.
• Place a heaped tablespoon of filling in each round, brush edges with water, gather and squeeze pastry around filling, flip so smooth top is up and pat into a round.
• Flatten each round with a rolling pin to an oval until fruit peeks through, place on a baking tray and cut two small slits in each.
• Brush tops generously with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
• Heat oven to 220°C (200°C fan)/gas 8 and bake 15–20 minutes until golden brown and sticky.
• Leave to cool on a rack and serve warm or cold; optionally serve with a wedge of tangy British cheese.