Читать книгу The British Baking Book - Regula Ysewijn - Страница 44

Lardy cake

Some people flip the lardy cake over in the fat that is left behind in the tin

so it can soak up all that goodness instead of adding a sugar syrup.

47

For 8–12 people

For the cake

4¾ tsp (15 g) dried yeast

1¼ cups lukewarm water

4¼ cups (500 g) strong white

bread flour (see page 16)

¼ cup (60 g) demerara (coarse raw

sugar)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1½ Tbsp (20 g) lard or butter, cubed,

at room temperature

1 tsp sea salt

1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp milk, for egg wash

For the filling

4 Tbsp (60 g) lard

4 Tbsp (60 g) butter, at room

temperature

¼ cup (50 g) soft brown sugar

¾ cup (120 g) raisins

¹⁄

³

cup (50 g) currants

¹⁄

³

cup (50 g) candied citrus peel

For the syrup

¹⁄

³

cup (60 g) granulated white sugar

5 tsp water

For a 9 x 13–inch baking sheet

Add the yeast to the lukewarm water to activate it. Put the flour, raw sugar, and

cinnamon in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and put the

lard or butter on top. Pour half of the yeast mixture over the lard or butter, wait

1 minute, and then knead for a few seconds. Add the rest of the yeast mixture.

The dough will now be very wet, but don’t add flour – this is how it should be.

Knead for 5 minutes, then scrape all of the dough back together. You can also

mix and knead the dough by hand.

Let the dough rest for a few minutes and then add the salt and knead for another

10 minutes. Remove the dough from the dough hook and now use your hands

to knead the dough in the bowl for 1 minute until it is a smooth ball – do not use

extra flour. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour

until doubled in quantity.

For the filling, start by beating the lard and butter with the sugar.

Roll out the dough to a rectangle about 8½ x 20 inches. Dot the dough with

the lard mixture, spread it out with your fingers, and then sprinkle the dried and

candied fruit over the top. Start rolling up the dough by folding a 4-inch strip from

left to right and then keep rolling it up. Push the tips of your fingers halfway into

the dough so that the filling and the dough will mix together slightly.

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the dough on top and let it

rest for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400°F. After rising, flatten the

dough by patting it with your hands so that it covers the baking sheet. Brush the

dough with the egg wash. Bake for 30–35 minutes until the top is golden brown.

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup by heating the granulated sugar and

water in a small saucepan. Simmer until all the sugar has dissolved. Brush the syrup

over the warm lardy cake.

Lardy cakes are known in a few regions in England. I came across them in the Cotswolds, where they are smaller

and spiral-shaped, and in Oxford, where the dough is folded into a brick as in this recipe.