Eccles cakes recipe

These delicious Eccles cakes are made with shop-bought puff pastry meaning they're quick and easy to rustle up. Just prepare the filling - and pop them in the oven for a tasty and sweet afternoon treat. The filling is made up of dried mixed fruit, blanched almonds with a hint of ground cinnamon. This recipe makes about 30 cakes in one batch. They're perfect for sharing with friends and family at the weekend with a nice cup of tea. This classic Eccles cakes recipe will take around 45 mins to prepare and cook and works out at only 106 calories per portion. The cakes are best eaten on the day the're baked, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Ingredients

• 60g butter
• 125g granulated sugar
• 150g dried mixed fruit
• 50g glacé cherries, chopped
• 50g blanched almonds, chopped
• Finely zested rind of 1 orange
• 1 level tsp ground cinnamon
• 375g packet all-butter puff pastry
• Milk, for glaze

Method

1. Set the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.
2. To make the filling: Melt the butter. Reserve 1 level tbsp granulated sugar and add the rest to the butter, and stir in the dried mixed fruit, glacé cherries, almonds, orange zest and cinnamon.
3. Roll out the puff pastry as thinly as possible and use the cutter to cut out rounds of pastry. Brush water around the edge of the pastry, then place 2 teaspoons of the filling in the centre of each. Gather up the edges to completely enclose the filling.
4. Roll out each little parcel to give a flattish round, about 7cm in diameter — the fruit should just start to show through the pastry. Make 4-5 slashes in the top of each cake, then place on the lined baking sheets. Repeat to use up the pastry trimmings and filling. Brush the top of each cake with milk and sprinkle a little reserved sugar over each.
5. Bake cakes in the centre of oven for 15-20 mins, swapping the position of the trays in the oven, if the top ones are browning more quickly than the lower ones. Remove the baking trays from the oven and transfer cakes on to a wire rack to cool. Serve the cakes warm or cold.