Heavy Cake - the real thing!

For my first post, after my break and before I start my “chocolate mini series”, I am returning to the most basic of Cornish recipes, that I posted last September when I started my Blog. I have seen some sorry examples of Heavy Cake in my time. There are NO raising agents in Heavy Cake and NO eggs. I am exceedingly proud of my heritage and my blood often boils at the travesties that are out there pretending to be Heavy Cake.

I am the proud possessor of a signed edition, Cornish cookbook of the 1920s and in it are 4 examples, some using clotted cream - too rich. Some suet - too greasy. I perfected this recipe many years ago and it is just perfect, using the first of those recipes, with a couple of tweaks from me.

Now, you may have noticed that many Cornish recipes use peel and oceans of fruit. Heavy Cake is no exception. Our love of fruit in recipes is a throw back from when the Phoenicians visited Cornwall. They were from the Eastern Mediterranean [about where Lebanon is now] and were a great nation of Seafarers and Traders. Over 2000 years ago they visited our shores to trade and mine the tin. They must have brought over the Saffron too.

Legend has it the miners had the pasties and the fisher folk of Cornwall made the Heavy Cake. Did the Heavy come from ”heave” as they village folk raced to the shores to help pull in the nets, full of herring? 

If you see italics I will be quoting the book.

1 ½ lb of Plain Flour

4 oz butter

4 oz lard

pinch of salt.

"Don't put the butter and lard too fine in the flour". So just roughly rub the fat into the flour!

Add: 

1 lb currants [or the dreaded 500 gr] - never anything but currants

4 or 5 oz chopped mixed peel

Castor sugar to taste. I use about 4 oz.

Combine with a scant half pint of cold water. [I use 9 fl oz] Bring together, then tip onto a floured surface and roughly roll out, then roll up, like a swiss roll.  Placing the roll back into the bowl for between 1 - 2 hours, for it to become  "light and shaley".

After that time, return to a floured surface, make into a round and flatten then start to roll out. While it is still small enough for you to lift, transfer to a lightly greased heavy based baking sheet.

Then continue to roll out to about half inch thick, maybe a little less.

Then, as the bottom picture on my Blog, make a crisscross pattern across the top, resembling a fishing net. Dredge with castor sugar and place in a preheated oven of about 200 deg C. But it depends on the oven. I know my oven and put it in at 195 deg.

Bake for about 30 mins. Cool in the tin for a few minutes then cut in half and slide onto a rack. Cut into portions of your own liking.

Can also be frozen individually.

For photos of each stage go to my Sept Blog or the beginning of my FB page

The first chocolate recipe in 4 days!!