Mike Armstrong is an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking...

CHORLEY cakes have been on my 'must bake' list for a while.

Recipes for these lesser known cakes are quite elusive – even my trusty collection of recipe books couldn't provide me with a full version.

I'm sure for most of us, Chorley cakes are one of those teatime treats that we've heard of time and time again, but never tried for ourselves.

However, I do remember making them in my early baking years and they were very much known as being a cake where each bakers shop had its own version.

It was a frugal bake, with less ingredients than its slightly fancier cousin the Eccles cake.

The Eccles cake is much sweeter and is made with flaky puff pastry, which after baking is normally a deep brown colour, whereas the Chorley cake is made with shortcrust pastry and is much flatter, with no sugar topping – after all it doesn't need sugar to win over our tastebuds!

Chorley cakes are associated with the town of Chorley and although a close relative of the Eccles cake, there are some significant differences when eaten. Chorley cakes are best enjoyed with a light spread of butter and sometimes a slice of Lancashire cheese, or Wensleydale cheese if you're on this side of the county border!

Chorley cakes are made using currants, sandwiched between two layers of unsweetened shortcrust pastry, and unlike the Eccles cakes the fruit is usually evenly distributed. It is not uncommon to see some sugar added to the fruit, with locals referring to the Chorley cake as 'fly pie'. The Chorley cake is also a lost relative of 'sad cake', made to a similar recipe but rolled out to the size of a dinner plate and cut up into triangles like a sponge cake, which was a regular addition to a working man's lunchbox – a filler after one's sandwiches, either eaten down the pit or in the cotton mills.

They were derived from having a bit of leftover pastry. When I was a child growing up, jam tarts were made with the leftover pastry, usually rolled out and played with so many times that the pastry turned grey and tough, but we still ate them. Chorley cakes are a little grown up in taste and best enjoyed buttered with a cuppa.

RECIPE

CHORLEY CAKES

Makes 4 large cakes

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

250g/9oz plain flour

170g/6oz cold butter

25g/1oz sugar

Pinch salt

1 level teaspoon baking powder

40ml/1.5fl oz cold milk

For the filling:

40g/1.5oz butter

50g/2oz sugar

Good pinch of grated nutmeg

200g/7oz currants, sultanas or raisins

1 egg, beaten

Method:

1. Sieve into a mixing bowl the flour, salt and baking powder

and rub in the butter until you have breadcrumbs, then add the cold milk until you have a nice dough. Chill the pastry in the fridge while you make the filling.

2. Melt the butter, then stir in the sugar, nutmeg and currants.

3. Divide the pastry into four balls; using a little flour, roll out into 8cm/3in diameter discs.

4. Divide the filling into the middle of each disc, fold in the edges so the mixture is covered, flip over so the seal is facing the surface and roll until the currants are beginning to show through the pastry.

5. Place onto baking trays, brush with beaten egg and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6 for around 15-20 minutes or until until golden brown.