It’s only fitting that I kick off this whole malarkey with something from my own neck-of-the-woods and something which, not entirely out of bias, is one of my all-time favourites, Eccles Cakes.

Eccles used to be a borough unto itself and bordered my own district of Flixton. These days, however, the town of Eccles is part of the borough of Salford, about 4 miles west of Manchester. By most accounts Eccles led a reasonably low-key life up until the Industrial Revolution when the Bridgewater Canal and the Liverpool & Manchester Railway brought industry to the area in the form of textiles and iron. But mention the name of Eccles to anyone on these shores and, “Eccles Cakes,” will be the first words you’ll hear. They are delicate little pastries filled with a currants, candied fruit peel, bound with butter and topped with a sprinkling of caster sugar.

Accounts of the Eccles Cake go all the way back to the 18th century and were sold commercially from 1796 by James Birch from a small shop on the corner of Church Street and Vicarage Road in the town. The annals of the Eccles and District History Society tell of Birch moving to larger premises in 1810 only to have the old shop occupied by a former employee, James Bradburn, who set himself up as a rival Eccles Cake maker, the scoundrel. There are a couple of lovely photos of the two shops on their website.

Okay, so my pastry experience is limited at best and I’ve never tried flaky pastry before so this could be messy. This version using frozen butter and lard appealed more than endless rolling, dotting and folding. > > Read on > >