Yorkshire Teacakes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Baking tray
• •Baking parchment
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Pastry brush
• •Serrated bread knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the dough

   Tip the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast to one side and the salt and sugar to the other. Stir in the mixed spice and cinnamon. Make a well in the middle and add the softened butter, the beaten egg, and most of the warm milk. Bring it together with your hands, adding the rest of the milk a splash at a time until you have a soft, slightly tacky dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl. Different flours drink different amounts. Trust your hands.

   The milk should feel just warm against the inside of your wrist. If it's hot, it'll kill the yeast. If it's cold, the dough will sulk and take twice as long to rise.
2. 2

   Knead until silky

   Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for ten minutes. It will feel sticky at first. Resist the urge to add more flour. Keep going. After about five minutes the dough will start to change under your hands, going from rough and shaggy to smooth and elastic, with a faint sheen. That's what you're after. Push, fold, turn, repeat. It's a quietly meditative thing, kneading dough.

3. 3

   First rise

   Lightly butter a clean bowl and put the dough in, turning it once to coat. Cover with a damp tea towel or cling film and leave somewhere warm and draught-free until it has roughly doubled in size. This takes around an hour and a half in a warm kitchen, longer if the room is cold. The dough is ready when you press a finger into it and the dent stays. Don't watch the clock. Watch the dough.

4. 4

   Add the fruit

   Tip the risen dough back onto a lightly floured surface and gently flatten it. Scatter the currants and mixed peel over the top, then fold the dough over itself a few times to work them through. Be patient here. The fruit wants to escape and you want it spread evenly. Knead gently for another minute until the currants are tucked into every part of the dough.

5. 5

   Shape the teacakes

   Divide the dough into eight equal pieces, around 130g each if you're being precise, but eyeballing it is fine. Shape each piece into a tight ball by cupping your hand over it and rolling against the work surface, then flatten gently into a round about 2cm thick. Yorkshire teacakes are flatter than you'd expect. They're meant to split clean across the middle.

   If a currant pokes through the surface, push it back in. Exposed currants burn and turn bitter in the oven.
6. 6

   Second rise

   Place the teacakes on a baking tray lined with parchment, leaving a couple of inches between each. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave to rise again for forty-five minutes to an hour, until puffy and almost touching. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan while you wait.

7. 7

   Bake until golden

   Brush the tops gently with a little milk. Bake for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the teacakes are deep golden on top and sound hollow when you tap the bottom. The kitchen will smell of warm bread and cinnamon and something faintly fruity. That's the currants doing their work. While they're still warm from the oven, brush the tops with the sugar and water glaze. They'll go glossy and slightly sticky.

8. 8

   Cool, split, toast

   Lift the teacakes onto a wire rack and let them cool. They're good fresh, but they're at their best the next day, split through the middle with a serrated knife and toasted hard until the cut sides are dark gold and the currants have caught the heat and turned sticky and sweet. Butter them while they're still hot enough to melt it. That's the whole point.

Chef Tips

• •Soak the currants in warm tea or a splash of brandy for half an hour before adding them to the dough if you want them plumper and more fragrant. Drain them well first, or the dough will turn sticky.
• •Don't skip the sugar glaze at the end. It's the difference between a plain bun and a proper teacake. That faint sticky shine on top is half the pleasure of eating one.
• •These freeze brilliantly. Wrap them individually once cooled and they'll keep for a couple of months. Defrost on the counter, then split and toast as if they were fresh. You'd never know.
• •A toaster won't quite do these justice. The proper way is under a hot grill or in a heavy pan, cut side down, until the currants on the cut surface caramelize and turn dark and sticky. That's the bit worth waiting for.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made the day before and given its first rise overnight in the fridge. Bring back to room temperature for half an hour before shaping.
• •Baked teacakes keep well in an airtight tin for three or four days. They're meant to be toasted, so a little staling is no bad thing.
• •Freeze for up to two months, well wrapped. Defrost at room temperature before splitting and toasting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)