eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe

Eccles Cakes [Recipe]

Breakfast, Christmas, Dessert, Food, Holidays, Recipes, Sweet / Tuesday, November 28th, 2023
Today I’m going to share my eccles cakes recipe with you, which has been one of my favourites in recent years. I got this recipe at first from my friend Sarah, who has British heritage, and who knows how to make a tea party the right kind of way. These are one of those “Perfect for tea time” kinds of things because they are light, satisfying, and sweet. Technically they are dessert, but I would also readily volunteer them as a perfect breakfast food.

What are Eccles Cakes?

Eccles cakes are a British pastry filled with currants, spices, and candied orange rind. They are very simple, but oh-so-incredible tasting! They are easily one of my favourite pastries.

Are they complicated to make?

Not at all. The hardest part about making eccles cakes is making the pastry, and the biggest hurtle there is literally just believing that you can do it. I am here to tell you that you CAN do it– because it’s really not that hard! Puff pastry seems intimidating, but if you use my Simple Puff Pastry recipe and tutorial, you can literally have homemade pastry ready to use in as little time as 15 minutes.

Can you make these ahead of time?

Yes! My mother in law is British, so when I was newly married, I decided to make this eccles cakes recipe for her birthday (which is in November). Now, it’s a tradition: I always make a whole bunch for her birthday, and then I freeze the extras (egg washed and everything) for Christmas morning. They can be baked right out the freezer and come out as if you had just made them the day before!

eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe

Here’s what you’re going to need to make sure you have on hand:

Ready to make the magic happen? Here’s the recipe!

eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe

eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe
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Eccles Cakes

These little pastries are a British tea time favourite, filled with currants, candied rind, and spices. This recipe makes 12.

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine British
Keyword christmas, cinnamon, currants, eccles cakes, puffy pastry
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1/2 batch Simple Puff Pastry (See recipe notes for the link)
  • 1/2 cup currants
  • 2 Tbsp chopped mixed peel
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp butter softened
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 tsp water (for the egg wash)
  • coarse sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Prepare the pastry as per the recipe instructions. Chill for at least 20 minutes.

  2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the currants, mixed peel, sugar, and spices. Mix in the butter, using your fingertips to make sure that it evenly coats the fruit mixture.

  3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

  4. On a lightly floured clean work surface, roll out the pastry into a 9"x12" rectangle. Cut into squares, and spoon the filling into the centre of each square until it is evenly divided. Gather up the corners of the squares over the filling, and pinch to seal, folding the sharp ends in and shaping with your fingers into a round cookie shape. Turn upside down onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, and press down slightly to flatten.

    Alternatively, you can just roll the dough out, cut into circles with a biscuit cutter, and fill that way. Continue rolling and cutting the scraps until all of the eccles cakes are made.

  5. Using a sharp knife, cut 2 little slits in the tops of each cake. Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Cool on wire racks. Like most pastries, eccles cakes are best served on the day they are made.

Recipe Notes

Recipe link: Simple Puff Pastry Recipe

Tips:  

If cutting the pastry into circles, do not overwork the pastry!  Try to get as many cakes as you can out of it each time you roll it out. I would not bother re-rolling the same dough out more than 2x after the first batch. Extra trimmings can be pressed together with your fingers to make more circles, or just baked as they are with sugar on top. Overworking the pastry will cause the butter to work in too much, and you'll lose the flakiness of the pastry.
 
Use a cookie sheet with sides!  This will prevent the butter from dripping off the sides of the pan and making a smokey mess in your oven. 

eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe

eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe

eccles cakes British puff pastry recipe

I recommend eating eccles cakes warm out of the oven with a hot cup of tea. Thank you, Sarah, for sharing this recipe with me!

I’ll close with this question: What’s your favourite teatime treat?

–Naomi

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2 Replies to “Eccles Cakes [Recipe]”

  1. This recipe looks delicious. Extravagant presentation but yet doable instructions. Your pictures are very helpful and very well done! Bravo! The recipe sounds perfect, but if you were to substitute the currants with something else, what would you choose?

    My favorite teatime treats are chocolate chip scones and coffee cake. Not too exotic, but delicious 🙂

    I am planning an afternoon tea for my Bible study ladies, and I think this will be the perfect treat to treat them to 🙂

    Thanks again!
    Becky

  2. Hey Becky, thanks for your comment!

    If I were to substitute the currants, I would likely use raisins or dried blueberries.

    Yay for coffee cake and scones! Some of my favorites as well.

    If you make this recipe, let me know how it turns out!

    –Naomi

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