According to the Great British Bake-Off, where I first heard of Lardy Cakes, the Lardy Cake bake is a cross between a Danish pastry and a bread. As mentioned above, it combines sugar, lard, butter, and fruit, and it's a British Classic.
So maybe you want to make a Lardy Cake to accompany your viewing of the next episodes of Grantchester? Here's Paul Hollywood's recipe from Series 14 of the Great British Bake-Off. Glad I wasn't a contestant on that episode. You can't go wrong with Paul Hollywood --and Grantchester!
Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water, plus more if needed
1 pinch white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons lard, divided
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sultana raisins
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 cup thin strips of orange zest
1/4 cup white sugar
Directions
Sprinkle yeast into warm water, then add a pinch of sugar. Let stand until frothy, about 15 minutes.
Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in 1 tablespoon lard with two knives or pastry blender. Make a well in the center and pour in yeast mixture. Beat with an electric mixer until a dough forms and starts to pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl, adding more warm water if necessary.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place into a clean bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Turn risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Dot 1/3 of the remaining lard over the surface, then sprinkle with 1/3 each of the raisins, currants, orange zest, and sugar. Fold the bottom third of the dough up, fold the top third down, then give the dough a quarter turn on the work surface. Repeat the process twice more, starting with the rolling.
Grease an 8x10-inch pan with lard and butter.
Roll out the layered dough to fit and place into the pan. Cover and leave in a warm place until puffy, about 30 minutes.
Score the top in a criss-cross pattern with a knife.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Bake in the preheated oven until well risen and golden brown, about 30 (+) minutes. You want a nice golden color, but you don't want the fruit to burn or the the centre to be raw.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately or leave to cool on a wire rack.
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Enjoy Grantchester and this very British treat!
When letting a yeast dough rise, cover it with something that prevents it from dryiing. A traditional tea towel isn't enough. Plastic wrap, or an inverted baking sheet worki.
ReplyDeleteLard, butter, sugar and salt...Yummie! I wonder how Mrs. C's Lardy Cakes would fare against those famed (Father Brown) Mrs. McCarthy's Scones?
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