Gluten-Free Eccles Cakes

5 from 2 votes

There is nothing more inviting than a freshly baked Eccles Cake, warm from the oven, the pastry beautifully flaky and the spiced plump fruit just short of bursting through its buttery trappings.

Prep Time1

Cook Time15

Total Time2 15

Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Servings: Eccles Cakes

Calories: 272kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

Filling

100 g unsalted butter
120 g currants
80 g sultanas
50 g mixed peel preferably homemade*
125 g demerara sugar + extra for sprinkling on top
Zest of ½ orange
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice see notes
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Gluten-free flaky pastry*

80 g sweet white rice flour
40 g oat flour + 4 tablespoons for rolling out the pastry
35 g millet flour
30 g cornflour
15 g tapioca starch
15 g ground chia seeds
½ teaspoon sea salt
115 g cold unsalted butter straight from the fridge
1 egg medium, lightly beaten
2-4 tablespoons cold whole milk
2 egg yolks for glazing the Eccles Cakes
2 teaspoons whole milk for glazing the Eccles Cakes

Instructions

First make the filling by melting the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat.
Once fully melted, pour in the rest of the filling ingredients, stirring thoroughly to make sure everything is coated in butter. Set aside for 1 hour and make the pastry in the meantime.
To make the pastry, combine the flours, chia seeds and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Grate the cold butter into the flour then gently mix together with your fingertips so the mixture turns quite shaggy.
Stir in the beaten egg with a fork.
Add the cold milk one tablespoon at a time and start to bring the dough together with a pastry scraper. It should start to form quite quickly. It should be slightly sticky to the touch.
Tip the dough onto the work surface and quickly bring the ball into a round ball with your hands. You don’t really need to work the pastry as there’s no gluten to activate.
Wrap the pastry ball in cling film and flatten it slightly to make it easier to roll out when ready.
Place in the fridge for an hour to chill.
When you are ready to assemble the Eccles Cakes pre-heat the oven to 170°C.
Take the pastry out from the fridge, remove the cling film then tear the pastry in half to make it easier to roll out. Use the extra oat flour to dust the worktop and the rolling pin.
Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thickness then cut out circles of pastry using a 12cm round pastry cutter.
Spoon in two teaspoons of filling into the centre of each round.
Whisk the egg yolks and whole milk together into a small cup.
Damp the edges of the pastry lightly with the egg yolk and milk mixture, then bring all the sides together, pressing firmly to seal.
Flip each Eccles cake over then gently roll out with the rolling pin to flatten slightly so the filling is just showing below the surface.
Set the Eccles Cakes onto a large baking tray, using a sharp knife make two little slits in the centre of each cake then brush each surface with the egg yolk and milk mixture and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden.

Notes

*Pastry adapted from the Flaky Pie Dough recipe in Alanna Taylor Tobin's Alternative Baker

Mixed Peel. As I am not a big fan of shop-bought mixed peel if I do not have any Homemade Mixed Peel to hand then I often add in a couple of tablespoons of orange marmalade instead of the mixed peel and also the zest of a lemon. I would then omit the orange zest.

Mixed Spice. I urge you to make your own mixed spice which tastes so much better than shop bought. This recipe is also ideal if you can't find it in your local grocery store British Mixed Spice Recipe.

Nutrition