Banbury Cakes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rolling pin
• •Small saucer or plate (about 12cm) for cutting templates
• •Baking sheet
• •Pastry brush
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the filling

   Melt the butter in a small pan over a gentle heat. As soon as it's liquid, take it off the hob and tip in the currants, brown sugar, candied peel, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest, and the rum if you're using it. Stir it all together. The kitchen will smell of Christmas cake about ten seconds in, which is exactly the moment you remember why you started. Set it aside to cool. The filling needs to be cold when it goes into the pastry, otherwise the butter will turn the bottom soggy before it's had a chance to bake.

   If your currants look tired, soak them in a splash of hot tea or rum for ten minutes before you start, then drain. They'll plump up and taste alive again.
2. 2

   Cut the pastry

   Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Line a baking sheet with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about 3mm thick, no thinner. You want it to puff properly but not be heavy. Using a saucer or a small plate as a guide, cut out eight ovals roughly 12cm across. Re-roll the offcuts once if you need to, but only once. Puff pastry resents being pushed around.

3. 3

   Fill and seal

   Place a heaped tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each oval. Don't be shy about it, but leave a clear border of pastry all the way round. Brush the border lightly with beaten egg. Now bring the long edges up and over the filling, pinching them together along the top to seal, then tuck the short ends under. Turn each parcel over so the seam is hidden underneath. Press gently with your palm to flatten into a slightly domed oval. They should look like little plump cushions.

4. 4

   Score and glaze

   Place the cakes seam-side down on the lined baking sheet, well spaced. Brush the tops generously with the rest of the beaten egg. Using a sharp knife, make three short diagonal slashes across the top of each one. This isn't decorative, it's practical. The slashes let the steam escape so the pastry puffs evenly without bursting at the seams. Scatter the demerara sugar over the top, more than you think you need. It's what gives them that crackling, sticky crust.

5. 5

   Bake until golden

   Bake for eighteen to twenty-two minutes, until the pastry is deeply golden and the sugar on top has turned glossy and almost caramelized. You'll see the filling bubbling through the slashes towards the end, dark and fragrant. Trust your nose. When the kitchen smells of butter and spice and burnt sugar, they're nearly there. Lift them onto a wire rack and leave for at least ten minutes before you eat one. The filling is molten when it comes out of the oven and it'll burn the roof of your mouth without apology.

   If a little filling escapes through a tear and caramelizes on the parchment, that's not a failure. That's the cook's piece. Lift it off with a knife and eat it standing up.

Chef Tips

• •Buy a good all-butter puff pastry. Making your own is a noble project for another day, but the shop-bought all-butter sort is genuinely excellent and there's no shame in it. The kind made with vegetable fat will let you down. You'll taste the difference.
• •Mixed peel divides people. If you can't bear it, leave it out and add a little extra zest. But the proper homemade candied peel from a good grocer is a different thing altogether from the neon-yellow stuff in tubs. It's worth seeking out once and you'll understand what these cakes are supposed to taste like.
• •These are best eaten the day they're made, while the pastry still has some crackle to it. They keep for two or three days in a tin, but they soften. A few seconds in a warm oven brings them back if you need to revive them.
• •Serve with strong tea. Not coffee, not anything fancy. A proper mug of black tea with a splash of milk. The bitterness cuts the sweetness of the filling and the whole thing makes sense in a way it doesn't otherwise.

Advance Preparation

• •The filling can be made up to a week ahead and stored in a sealed jar in the fridge. It improves as the spices settle into the currants. Bring it back to room temperature before assembling.
• •The cakes can be assembled, scored, and then frozen unbaked on a tray. Once solid, transfer to a bag. Bake from frozen, adding five minutes to the cooking time. A good thing to have stashed away for when guests appear.
• •Baked cakes keep in an airtight tin for two to three days. Refresh in a hot oven for three or four minutes to restore the crispness.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)