Eccles cakes, those delightful pastries filled with dried currants, candied citrus peel, and warm spices, have been a beloved British treat for generations.

Named after the town of Eccles, these flaky, buttery delights are perfect for afternoon tea or as a sweet snack any time of day.

They’re a staple in most bakeries and even supermarkets, but baking expert Mary Berry has an easy recipe for those who want to make them from scratch.

The original recipe, crafted by a local baker in Eccles, Lancashire, was created as a way to use up leftover ingredients.

But Mary’s version combines a flaky pastry with a flavourful filling, resulting in a treat that’s both nostalgic and utterly delicious.

Sharing the recipe in her cookbook, Mary Berry’s Baking Bible the chef suggested that the “spicy little currant cakes” are best with homemade pastry, but shop-bought makes the recipe much easier.

Eccles cakes recipe

Ingredients

• 40g softened butter
• 50g light muscovado sugar
• Half a tsp of ground mixed spice
• 50g chopped candied peel
• 100g currants
• One large egg white, beaten (to glaze)
• A little caster sugar (to serve)

For the flaky pastry

• 320g pack of puff pastry (or)
• 225g plain flour
• 175g butter
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• Eight tbsp cold water

Method

If making the pastry from scratch, start by measuring the flour into a large mixing bowl, then divide 175g of butter into four equal portions.

Rub one portion of butter into the flour using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. For light pastry, Mary suggested: “Incorporate as much air as possible by sifting flour from a height, cutting in small pieces of butter with a knife, and lifting your hands well above the bowl when rubbing in.”

Add the lemon juice and water and mix to form a dough then lightly flour a clean surface then gently knead the dough on it until smooth. Take a rolling pin and stretch the dough into an oblong shape three times as long as it is wide.

Cut a portion of the butter into small pieces and spread evenly over the top two thirds of the pastry, then fold the bottom thirds over the middle third and top the final third. Seal the edges with the edge of your hand and wrap the pastry in cling film to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Re-roll the chilled pastry as before, starting with the folds of dough to the left, until the remaining portions of butter have been used up. Wrap the pastry up again in clingfilm and return to the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Now, preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/ Gas 7. If using pre-made pastry, roll it out thinly and cut into eight rounds roughly 15cm in diameter.

Make the filling by combining 50g of butter with the sugar, mixed spice, candied peel and currants, then place a good tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each pastry round.

Dampen the pastry edges with water then draw together to enclose the filling. Turn the round over and flatten the pastry parcel gently with a rolling pin so the currants just peek through, then re-shape into a round if necessary.

Make three small cuts in the top of each cake, then brush with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar. Transfer to a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes before lifting the Eccles cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.