I love to cook but I suppose if I’m honest I love to bake and this is for me, the best of all cakes in the world. My personal favourite and will live in my heart forever. I was 13 years old when I lost my beloved Dad to lung cancer. Our local Baker in those years was at the top of our street. Every Saturday he took me there. Just the two of us and he would buy me a Banbury, in a bag and we would go into the park and eat our Banbury together on the park bench.
BANBURY CAKES
4oz butter
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
8oz currants
4oz chopped peel
8 oz Flaky Pastry or Rough Puff Pastry, bought of home made
To Glaze
1 egg white beaten
2 tablespoons caster sugar
Method
- Cream the butter with the honey and spices.
- Blend in the currents and Peel.
- Roll out the pastry thinly and cut into 4 inch rounds.
- Put a spoonful of the filling i the centre of each round, damp the edges of the pastry and draw them together over the filling.
- Squeeze together and turn the pastry over and shape into and Oval.
- Roll lightly to flatten slightly and cut 2 slits to let out the steam.
- Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar.
- Use the trimmings to make more cakes.
- Put on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated hot oven at 450F Gas Mark 8 for 15minutes or until well risen and golden. Serve hot or cold.
OAT BISCUITS
4oz flour
1/2 tsp salt
4ox rolled oats
2oz caster sugar
2 1/2 oz margarine
1 egg beaten
2-3 tablespoons milk
Method
- Sift the flour and sale into a mixing bowl.
- Mix in the oats and sugar
- Cut the fat in to the mixture and then mix in to a breadcrumb texture
- Bind with the beaten egg, adding a little milk as necessary to make a stiff dough.
- Roll out on a floured board thinly.
- With a plain cutter cut out 2 1/2 inch rounds.
- Place on a greased baking tray.
- Work up, roll and cut out the scraps.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350F Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool on a wire tray.
Carol Yeomanson Books 